Experts Warn of Deadly Human Influenza Pandemic Tue Mar 16,11:41 AM ET
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters) - Health experts on Tuesday warned Asia's bird flu could still spark a deadly human influenza pandemic and urged all countries to step up readiness.
Vaccines and anti-virals would be in short supply in the early stages of any global flu pandemic, when measures from quarantines to travel warnings could save lives, they added.
Around 100 experts from 40 countries are attending a three-day meeting called by the World Health Organization (WHO) to review global preparedness for a long-predicted flu pandemic.
Bird flu, which spread across eight countries of Asia from late last year, has killed a total of 23 people in Vietnam and Thailand. Some 100 million poultry have died or been culled.
"If the virus acquired full capacity human to human transmission, we should expect a pandemic with huge morbidity and mortality," Hitoshi Oshitani, head of WHO's Western Pacific Regional Office, told the opening session.
"In many countries there is no established surveillance system for animals and humans. Unfortunately, most developing countries still don't have national pandemic plans," he added.
PANDEMIC PLANNING
The annual influenza epidemic claims between 500,000 and one million lives worldwide, including some 36,000 in the United States, according to Stohr. Many victims are chronic disease patients whose cases are complicated by influenza and fever.
There has been an average of 27.5 years between pandemics since 1883. The largest, in 1918-1919, claimed 40 to 50 million lives for a mortality rate of 2.2 percent, he said.
But the last such pandemic was in 1968, although there have been 12 outbreaks with that potential since then, including five in the last five years, with bird flu among them.
Klaus Stohr, head of WHO's global influenza program, said that only 36 of the United Nations' agency's some 190 members had reported pandemic plans.
Early detection and sound surveillance systems are key for slowing the spread of a pandemic, so as to "buy time" until appropriate new vaccines become available, according to WHO.
"We certainly cannot prevent the global spread of the virus, but we can slow it down," Stohr said in a speech.
"It has been estimated it could travel around the world in four to eight months," he added. "The lead time we have may be relatively short especially as travel may hasten the spread."
Stohr said vaccines were the main defense, but noted it would take months to develop and produce ones to target new strains.
He predicted "severe anti-viral and vaccine shortages," with supplies virtually "absent" in developing countries.
About 75 percent of vaccine production capacity is currently in Europe, he said. "Without a doubt, countries will look at their own backyard...Countries will not share easily."
My parents have friends who have had a house there for years...I am working on a design for them. Have travelled there since I was a child. Anyway, just doing a quick search on concrete companies...for design info. I found shocking info. about discord and muggings and criminal activity etc. It ended in finding info. about U.S. discord and Cuba.
For some interesting reading...this is the link for the Royal Gazette..
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage It also seems that those who want to cause discord between the U.S. and Bermuda have a friend in Mr. Heinz (aka John Kerry).
Will Kerry's False Rhetoric Create Real Damage?
Opinion by Daniel Mitchell
America's number one enemy isn't Al Qaeda, Libya, North Korea, or Cuba. It's Bermuda! At least that is what Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts would like American voters to believe. At almost every campaign stop, he maliciously attacks 'Benedict Arnold corporations' who move to Bermuda. The insinuation, of course, is that Bermuda is some sort of predatory regime that provides refuge to scoundrels.
These irresponsible charges are repeated on the campaign's website, which states, "John Kerry will save jobs by ending the unpatriotic practice of US corporations moving jobs offshore (known as inversions) to avoid paying their fair share of taxes… He isn't afraid to crack down on corporations that are hiding their money in Bermuda to avoid paying their fair share and will end special tax giveaways to companies that ship jobs abroad."
It is difficult to decide what is most objectionable about Kerry's demagoguery, his deliberate smear of a friendly regime or his reckless disregard for accuracy. The denigration or Bermuda is certainly reprehensible, particularly since the territory's market-based tax policy and race relations are both much better than can be found in the United States. And for what it's worth, Bermuda also has much more onerous anti-money laundering laws than America, thus disproving Kerry's snide attempt to imply criminality.
But Kerry's inability to understand the issue also is troubling. It appears that he does not comprehend US tax law, which certainly fits with his reputation in the Senate as a legislative lightweight. But more disturbing is the fact that both he and his campaign staff make obvious errors with the simplest facts. The language on the campaign website provides several good examples. First, he confuses "outsourcing" with "inversions." Outsourcing occurs when a company purchases labour services in another country. Inversion is when a company re-charters in another jurisdiction. And while it is correct to say that outsourcing "moves jobs offshore", this has nothing to do with the inversion issue. Inversions take place because America's worldwide tax system and high corporate tax rate make it very difficult for US-chartered companies to compete with foreign-chartered companies, most of which come from nations with lower tax rates and territorial tax regimes...
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040225/OPINION/102250088 Statements from preceding article are backed-up with this info. gleaned from Kerry's web site.
. Restoring Jobs and Rebuilding the Economy •••
John Kerry for President Issue Page: Restoring Jobs and Rebuilding the Economy
...He isn’t afraid to crack down on corporations that are hiding their money in Bermuda to avoid paying their fair share and will end special tax giveaways...
...and he will stop corporations from keeping bank Accounts in Countries like Bermuda to Avoid Paying Taxes. See John Kerry's plan to Make Corporations...