New outbreaks of the avian influenza virus H5N1 in China, Thailand and Viet Nam confirm that the virus is still endemic in the region, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a statement yesterday.
"The new cases do not come as a surprise", said Joseph Domenech, Chief of the FAO Animal Health Service.
"After the major outbreaks of a few months ago, affected countries succeeded in bringing disease under control. But the new outbreaks clearly demonstrate that the virus continues to circulate in parts of the region and new cases might flare up in future, posing a continuing threat to human health", he said.
"In designing their control strategies, governments need to acknowledge that the virus will continue to circulate and that different flu viruses could also be introduced. Eradication of the avian flu virus should be considered, at best, as a long-term task", he added.
It is probably unreasonable to expect that the disease can be totally excluded from the region in the near future. To manage the risk that the viruses pose to human health and animal productivity is the challenge. "The presence of highly pathogenic strains of the virus in wild birds makes control of the disease particularly complex and difficult", Domenech said.
It is very encouraging that governments have reacted immediately on recent outbreaks and have officially informed international organizations, FAO said. This demonstrates that country surveillance systems are becoming operative.
FAO warned, however, that surveillance and immediate reaction to outbreaks need to be strengthened and applied in all countries of the region.
"In some countries the extent of infection is still not precisely known and further investigation is urgently needed", Domenech said.
"Countries should apply surveillance and control measures nationwide and should consider the fight against bird flu as a long-term commitment. There is no easy solution to the problem", he added.