Bangkok, Thailand: International crisis talks aimed at halting the rapid spread of bird flu or Avian Influenza across Asia were to open in Thailand as the threat of a disastrous outbreak is now also looming in China, the birthplace of SARS.
The talks in Bangkok follow ominous warnings from the WHO (World Health Organization) that the H5N1 bird flu virus could mutate with the human influenza virus and cause a pandemic (epidemic) threatening millions of human lives worldwide.
Ministers and officials from 10 affected countries in Asia and other regional nations are to attend the talks on the Bird Flu disease which has killed at least eight people and led to the culling of more than 20 million chickens.
So far there have been no cases of human-to-human transmission of bird flu, the scenario which most concerns the WHO. Scientists believe those infected had direct contact with live poultry or faeces.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose beleaguered government is among several to face charges it covered up the Bird Flu outbreak in Thailand, will urge those at the meeting to come up with concrete plans to combat the disease.
"We know from our experience with SARS that no amount of cheerleading will restore public confidence unless we can come up with concrete action, credible information and verifiable scientific evidence," Thaksin said according to an advance copy of his opening speech.
"The rapid spread of bird flu shows us once more the dark side of globalization. Not only does it pose a grave economic threat, forcing the culling of millions of chickens, it also poses a serious public health threat."
The Bangkok talks in Thailand represent the first step of Asian co-operation since last April's emergency summit here of 10 Southeast Asian nations plus China, which produced a successful regional framework to contain SARS, the atypical pneumonia that swept 32 countries and left nearly 800 people dead.
With the avian influenza now spreading as far west as Pakistan and as far east as Japan, the Thai hosts are hoping that the half-day talks will restore confidence in the region's shattered poultry industry.
Officials from the United States, European Union, WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health have also been invited to the talks.
Thailand said Wednesday that the number of its 76 provinces affected had nearly doubled to 25, including the capital Bangkok, a sprawling megalopolis of 10 million people.
Health officials also said that a Thai woman suspected of having bird flu has died, bringing the toll from the disease to 6 suspected deaths and two confirmed fatalities.
Outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu have now also been confirmed in Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, where at least 6 people have been killed, with weaker varieties detected in Laos, Pakistan and Taiwan.
Indonesia, where a 3-year-old boy was being tested to determine if he is the country's first case, has refused to follow other nations in ordering a mass cull of chickens despite pleas from the WHO.
Hong Kong, which grappled with an outbreak of the Bird Flu virus in 1997 that killed 6, stepped up anti-flu measures. Malaysia and Singapore have also increased measures to prevent infection.
Australia meanwhile said it was confident it will escape the bird flu outbreak and has sent its own health experts to Asia to help fight the virus.
