Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Bird Flu Battle Gets $1.9 Billion Boost
New Scientist ^ | 1-18-2006 | Roxanne Khamsi

Posted on 01/18/2006 4:04:01 PM PST by blam

Bird flu battle gets $1.9 billion boost

18:22 18 January 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi

The pledge comes from an international meeting in Beijing, China to secure funds for fighting the spread of avian influenza, which experts fear could turn into a human pandemic form.

“The success of the Beijing meeting is a great step forward and has shown that the international community has understood how crucial it is to control avian influenza at source in birds,” says Bernard Vallat, director general of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris, France.

The majority of the pledged money - of which $500 million has been offered by the World Bank and other organisations - would go toward measures against avian flu in Asia, which has seen the most human cases of the disease. The World Bank had estimated that fighting avian flu in developing countries would cost about $1.4 billion and require $700 million to $1 billion from nations willing to provide funds towards this cause.

This financial assistance is vital, Vallat stresses. “One country not able to carry out early detection and rapid response to animal disease outbreaks can represent a threat to all the others,” he told New Scientist.

Scientists fear that the H5N1, which has claimed the lives of nearly 80 people worldwide, could mutate to a more contagious form. To date, however, no cases of human-to-human transmission have been confirmed. Most of the victims of the virus have had close contact with infected birds.

A recent outbreak of avian flu in Turkey has intensified concerned health officials, who are also waiting to find out if samples from a suspected human case in northern Iraq test positive for the disease.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 19; battle; billion; bird; boost; flu; gets
I posted an article last week that was seeking $1.5 billion.
1 posted on 01/18/2006 4:04:04 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: blam

So, exactly how many people have died from the Bird Flu? In fact, how many have even caught it? From what I read, the cases of people getting it are in the low 100 range, and of those who have died the most vulnerable are the very elderly and the very young; which is also the group that succumbs to the common flu making the rounds every year.

I have yet to hear why the panic is over this flu; I hear the word 'pandemic' and I wonder "If whole cities were kicking the bucket, that's one thing. But one or two in Turkey, a dozen in China and I think "So what, what about Chicken Pox?".

This smacks of gov't boondoggle, justified by media hysteria; not cold hard fact.


2 posted on 01/18/2006 4:09:31 PM PST by Hodar (With Rights, come Responsibilities. Don't assume one, without assuming the other.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

This is why the chicken crossed to the other side of the road. M-o-n-e-y.


3 posted on 01/18/2006 4:09:37 PM PST by garyhope (Happy, healthy, prosperous New Year to all good Freepers and our brave military.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hodar; blam
claimed the lives of nearly 80 people worldwide

Sorry, my mistake .... nearly 80 people on the planet have died. How many people are there on the planet again? We have more people die from the common cold, chicken pox or simply drinking Dt. Coke too fast.

4 posted on 01/18/2006 4:11:54 PM PST by Hodar (With Rights, come Responsibilities. Don't assume one, without assuming the other.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: blam

Wow, I guess whipping up unfounded hysteria DOES have a pay-off.


5 posted on 01/18/2006 4:22:16 PM PST by thoughtomator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson