Bird flu watch heightened

Wildlife authorities are surveying bird populations in the Northern Marianas to search for any sign of bird flu infection, as the World Health Organization warned that the disease is the most likely candidate to cause the world’s pandemic of as many as 7 million deaths and billions of people ill.

Dr. Ike Dela Cruz, the CNMI’s veterinarian, said surveys are being conducted on Saipan, Tinian and Rota to look for any sign of illness or death among bird populations, especially migratory birds. The CNMI has maintained the ban on the entry of poultry products from many Asian countries that are known to have outbreaks of the avian influenza.

So far, the local populations of domesticated birds have been found to be healthy, Dela Cruz said.

He said the Agriculture and Fish and Wildlife divisions within the Department of Land and Natural Resources have been working together on the surveillance.

“It has already killed many humans. The influenza virus is known to have the capability to change its genetic structure to become more contagious and infectious,” the veterinarian said.

Dela Cruz said humans could be infected with the bird flu virus not only by eating infected poultry products but also through contact with infected birds.

“There’s a possibility that a new strain will develop and human-to-human transmission is possible,” he added.

Dela Cruz said that bird flu cases in many neighboring Asian countries are alarming, prompting the Commonwealth to maintain a ban on the entry of poultry, eggs, and other poultry products from countries known to have bird flu cases, including those from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Laos, and Cambodia.

He said, however, that poultry products from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Singapore could be brought into the CNMI.

An Associated Press report that appeared in the USA Today quoted WHO as saying that a pandemic could cause an estimated 2 million to 7 million deaths and make billions of people ill. It quoted Shigeru Omi, Western Pacific regional director of WHO, as saying that the outbreak of avian influenza is historically unprecedented in terms of geographical spread and impact.

The AP report said bird flu has claimed at least 32 human lives in Thailand and Vietnam and millions of chickens in Asia.

According to the report, influenza pandemics historically occur every 20 to 30 years when the genetic makeup of a flu strain changes so dramatically that people have little or no immunity built up from previous flu bouts, quoting the WHO official as saying that the next influenza pandemic might be overdue.

Health officials fear bird flu could combine with a human flu virus, creating a new form that could spread rapidly throughout the world, the report said.