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Thailand: First of three regional centres worldwide
USAID creates bird flu centre to protect Southeast Asia
A regional centre in Thailand stocked with supplies to combat a potential outbreak of avian influenza has been opened by the US Agency for International Development [USAID]. The disease remains a major threat along the Mekong River, a massive territory which takes in Burma, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, before terminating in Vietnam.
The enormous warehouse stores enough protective equipment, decontamination kits and laboratory equipment to serve tens–of–thousands of people throughout Southeast Asia. It is the first of three regional centres that are planned worldwide, to ensure a rapid response to any outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 virus, commonly called bird flu because it strikes animals, particularly poultry.
People are rarely affected, but the H5N1 virus has been confirmed in more than 300 individuals according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. And outbreaks in the region increase the risk that the virus might mutate and attack humans, says Dr John Macarthur, USAID’s infectious diseases advisor.
Flu pandemics routinely occur about every 35 years according to the CDC. However, with the 21st century’s rapid transportation, a pandemic would spread faster than ever before and cause between four and 40 million deaths, claims the UN World Health Organization.
For further information visit the USAID website at: www.usaid.gov.
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