Jane Nafula
17 August 2008
Kampala — Scientists in Uganda and their colleagues elsewhere are worried that human beings could contract a new strain of bird flu.
The acting World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative in Uganda, Dr Jean Baptiste Tapko, said a global state of alert to the pandemic influenza has been declared.
"Transmission of the influenza virus infection to humans has been mainly from infected birds," Dr Tapko said. He was addressing a Kampala symposium that is drafting a code of ethics for pandemic influenza detection and response in Africa.
Dr Tapko said the emergence of H5NI strain of influenza virus would mark the beginning of an influenza pandemic.
In 1918, an influenza pandemic caused up to 50 million deaths worldwide while in 1957 influenza claimed between one to two million lives. In 1968 the pandemic caused about 700,000 deaths worldwide
Dr Tapko said that since 2003, a total of 385 human cases and 243 deaths from infection with avian influenza sub-type H5NI had been reported in 15 countries three of which are in Africa including Nigeria and Egypt.
"Unlike the previous pandemics, we have had the opportunity to see this one unfolding. We are all expected to be better prepared to rapidly contain and mitigate the possible impact of the pandemic," he said.
Dr Tapko said several countries including Uganda have developed and are implementing national multi-sectoral preparedness plans.
The potential public health impact of an influenza pandemic is enormous including social and economic disruptions , travel and trade restrictions, that would result into massive economic loses, overburdening health care services that are already weak in most developing countries.
Health Minister, Dr Stephen Mallinga said there are high chances for the virus to mutate (change ) and result into a serious influenza pandemic.
An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population and as a result, infected human beings start to infect others.
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