World Health Organisation:Not long before Bird Flu hits Australia

An official from the World Health Organisaiton has sent a warning to Australia stating that it could only be a matter of time before Australia reported its first bird flu case.

An official from the World Health Organisaiton has sent a warning to Australia stating that it could only be a matter of time before Australia reported its first bird flu case.At least five people in Vietnam and one child in Thailand have died from the virus with China and Japan also confirming the presence of the disease within their borders.The WHO believes the virus has only killed chickens and people who have had direct contact with chicken faeces, and as yet have not identified a case where human to human transfer has occurred. Yet Allan Hampson from WHOs influenza in Melbourne believes it is only a matter of time before a human to human transfer occurs.”It will be virtually impossible to stop it getting to Australia and it can travel very, very quickly,” he said.”The 1968 virus moved around the world within about six months of arising in southern China – it was in Australia within about two months.”The three worst flu pandemics of the Twentieth Century began with the 1918-19 Spanish flu which claimed over 20 million lives worldwide.The Asian flu pandemic in 1957-58 and the Hong Kong flu in 1968-69 claimed over 1.5 million lives worldwide.(Source: Reuters Health, ABC Health News, Jan 2004)