This is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.
United Nations agencies arecalling for money and technical help for countries in Asia to stopthe spread of bird flu. The head of the U-N Food and AgricultureOrganization says farmers should be paid for their losses.
Workers in ten countries have been killing millions of chickensand other birds. The World Health Organization says workers shouldwear eye protection to avoid the virus. They should also wear whatis known as an n-ninety-five (N95) respirator mask. Health officialssay another possibility is the kind of mask that doctors wear duringoperations.
Workers should also wear protective clothing that can be eithertreated to kill germs or thrown away after use. And they should washtheir hands often. The W-H-O also suggests having antiviral drugsready in case people get sick.
Thailand on Monday reported its third death from avian influenza.And a ninth person died in Vietnam. Among the deaths in Vietnam weretwo sisters not known to have been near infected birds. The W-H-Osaid “one possible explanation” was that they got the virus fromtheir brother.
Health officials fear that bird flu could change into a form thatspreads person-to-person worldwide. It could combine with human fluif someone gets both viruses. Or it may pass to humans through pigs.Yet the W-H-O says the limited number of human infections to date isa good sign.
The United States Agriculture Department had expected worldchicken production to increase by six percent this year. The ForeignAgriculture Service there estimated that production would be greaterthan demand.
The industry in Thailand has grown quickly. Last week, PrimeMinister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed that the virus had entered hiscountry. He said Thailand had not done a good job at first. But hesaid it would move quickly to control the disease. Thailand is thefourth largest exporter of chicken.
The United States is the largest. Next are Brazil, the EuropeanUnion, Thailand and China.
China last week reported its first cases of bird flu. But theBritish magazine New Scientist reported that the current outbreak inAsia began months ago in southern China. The report suggested thatefforts to prevent the flu had caused it. China started to vaccinatechickens after the nineteen-ninety-seven outbreak in Hong Kong.
The Foreign Ministry dismissed the report. A Chinese agriculturalofficial called it “purely a guess.”
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter. This is Bob Doughty.