Asia faces disease threat from animals

SINGAPORE. — Asia faces twin health problems of infectious diseases stemming from animals and the emergence of drug-resistant strains of viruses that make treatment difficult, a World Health Organisation official said.

Henk Bekedam, head of WHO’s health sector development, said 75 percent of new diseases such as H1N1, H5N1 and SARS stem from animals and the best way to prevent the spread is to properly separate animals and human beings.

"In China, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, animals are still very close to people," Bekedam told Reuters in an interview yesterday on the sidelines of a health conference in Singapore. These are issues we need to continue taking up, and after SARS, we know the need to share information." The close proximity between humans and animals allows viruses and other micro-organisms to jump the species barrier. One example of this is the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which spreaded around the world in 2003, killing more than 800 people.

Experts have long feared the avian H5N1 flu virus would trigger a pandemic, even though it is still a disease mostly confined to birds. The close proximity between chickens and people has allowed H5N1 to jump the species barrier and infect humans, who suffer a death rate of 60 percent from the virus. — Reuters.