The Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines: Gathered around a conference table facing a large screen, World Health Organization officials Monday moved to stop in its tracks a mock bird flu pandemic emerging in Cambodia.
In the two-day "Panstop 2007" training exercise, the H5N1 virus has mutated into a strain easily spread among humans. The simulated situation tests for the first time the WHO's ability to rapidly avert a pandemic, officials said.
The drill involved officials at the WHO Western Pacific regional headquarters in Manila talking by phone with counterparts in Cambodian, Singapore, Indonesia and Japan.
As of mid-morning, four out of five people infected with the virus in the mock scenario were dead, and WHO Cambodia personnel were in the field conducting an investigation, said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional adviser for communicable disease, surveillance and response.
Officials were rushing to send influenza drug Tamiflu and protective gear, like goggles and masks, from a Japan-donated stockpile in Singapore to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
At least 24,000 Tamiflu courses were needed, and the WHO Manila office could only send 3,000 courses. It asked for the rest to be flown from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' stockpile in Singapore.
"The exercise is going very well. We're very early in the scenario," exercise director Paul Cox told reporters. "As the exercise unfolds, things will get a little bit more complicated and a little bit more difficult."
While another bird flu drill was conducted last month by six countries in Cambodia, "Panstop 2007" was the first WHO bird flu drill and the first-ever exercise by anyone on rapidly containing a pandemic, Cox said.
An assessment of how quickly authorities responded will be made after the drill is completed on Tuesday, he added.
"Containment of an influenza pandemic has never been attempted before, and we cannot be sure if it will work," Shigeru Omi, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said in a statement. "But this exercise will provide us with valuable insight into what needs to be done if a crisis situation should emerge."
WHO spokesman Peter Cordingley said no supplies will actually be moved during the exercise, which involves imagining the medicines and supplies being loaded onto a plane from Singapore to Phnom Penh, and clearing customs in Cambodia's capital.
Kasai said containment becomes less possible as the infection rate grows, or the virus emerges in highly populated areas.
He said the risk of a pandemic continues to grow. Underlining the importance of a timely response, Kasai said Hong Kong's experience in 1997 showed a decisive local rapid intervention ended an H5N1 outbreak.
Rapid containment will require extraordinary measures within a short time, including rushing antiviral drugs and equipment to the affected area, and steps like isolation, quarantine, closure of schools and workplaces, the WHO said.
Bird flu has killed at least 170 people since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in 2003, according to the WHO.
In the two-day "Panstop 2007" training exercise, the H5N1 virus has mutated into a strain easily spread among humans. The simulated situation tests for the first time the WHO's ability to rapidly avert a pandemic, officials said.
The drill involved officials at the WHO Western Pacific regional headquarters in Manila talking by phone with counterparts in Cambodian, Singapore, Indonesia and Japan.
As of mid-morning, four out of five people infected with the virus in the mock scenario were dead, and WHO Cambodia personnel were in the field conducting an investigation, said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional adviser for communicable disease, surveillance and response.
Officials were rushing to send influenza drug Tamiflu and protective gear, like goggles and masks, from a Japan-donated stockpile in Singapore to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
At least 24,000 Tamiflu courses were needed, and the WHO Manila office could only send 3,000 courses. It asked for the rest to be flown from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' stockpile in Singapore.
"The exercise is going very well. We're very early in the scenario," exercise director Paul Cox told reporters. "As the exercise unfolds, things will get a little bit more complicated and a little bit more difficult."
While another bird flu drill was conducted last month by six countries in Cambodia, "Panstop 2007" was the first WHO bird flu drill and the first-ever exercise by anyone on rapidly containing a pandemic, Cox said.
An assessment of how quickly authorities responded will be made after the drill is completed on Tuesday, he added.
"Containment of an influenza pandemic has never been attempted before, and we cannot be sure if it will work," Shigeru Omi, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said in a statement. "But this exercise will provide us with valuable insight into what needs to be done if a crisis situation should emerge."
WHO spokesman Peter Cordingley said no supplies will actually be moved during the exercise, which involves imagining the medicines and supplies being loaded onto a plane from Singapore to Phnom Penh, and clearing customs in Cambodia's capital.
Kasai said containment becomes less possible as the infection rate grows, or the virus emerges in highly populated areas.
He said the risk of a pandemic continues to grow. Underlining the importance of a timely response, Kasai said Hong Kong's experience in 1997 showed a decisive local rapid intervention ended an H5N1 outbreak.
Rapid containment will require extraordinary measures within a short time, including rushing antiviral drugs and equipment to the affected area, and steps like isolation, quarantine, closure of schools and workplaces, the WHO said.
Bird flu has killed at least 170 people since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in 2003, according to the WHO.
No comments:
Post a Comment