While containing the further spread of the bird flu crisis stands as the most pressing demand of the moment, concerned authorities should also explore a long-term solution to prevent similar pandemic from reoccurring in the future, an UN official told Xinhua Wednesday. 

"Now, the unprecedented crisis has posed potential threat to human health," said He Changhui, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.  

So far, 10 people have died of the disease in Vietnam and Thailand since the fowl epidemic first outbreak early this year in Vietnam.

It is not the first time that poultry industry has been hit by avian influenza, said He, citing outbreaks in the Netherlands and the United States last year. However, it is the first time that so many countries in the same region have simultaneously undergone such strong blow of the disease, which was first originated from flying birds and water fowls.

Though the exact cause of the large-scale outbreak is yet to be found out, the spread of the disease might have been facilitated by the dramatic scaling up of pig and poultry production and a massive geographic concentration of livestock in China, Thailand and Vietnam.

"Often, high densities of humans and animals coincide, creating new pathways for disease transmission through inappropriate waste disposal, direct contact or through air-borne transmission," he noted.

"This may give rise to newly emerging diseases and is a threat to human and animal health."

Besides, underestimating the epidemic's scale and lack of attention to the issue's severity might cost some countries good timing to contain the disease within small circle.

As early as last autumn, there have been reports of suspected bird flu outbreak on some poultry farms, said He, calling for improved transparency in disease reporting.

"The earlier the information is disclosed, the better the public will be informed and the less the loss will be," he said.

An early-warning response system was also needed to prevent any minor disease from developing into regional crisis, he added.

It is indeed the lack of such a system in the region that wrecked chaos in many countries when the epidemic was detected on their chicken farms.

In Thailand, the government had mobilized some 650 soldiers to help cull chickens during the first several days when the outbreak was confirmed.

Some other countries were short of protection gears and vaccination when facing with the highly-contagious H5N1 virus that caused the epidemic, he added.

However, He stressed that a long-term solution to the current crisis was to substantially restructure the poultry industry. It is an issue related to many aspects of the poultry industry, involving chemical use in poultry raising, environmental pressure caused by nowadays professional poultry-raising industry and the relations between industrialized chicken farms and those of family style.

"There is a need for good agricultural practices -- from farm to the table -- and for healthy farming systems, which lead to more food safety and better bio-security," He said.

Last but not least, while governments are now busy with culling birds and banning poultry import to keep away the epidemic, they have to keep in mind tens of millions of farms' livelihood.    

"The crisis itself is first a disaster to the region's agriculture, especially the stock raising sector and many poultry raisers in the region are still small farmers," the FAO official said with concern.

Citing Thailand as an example, He said more than one million chicken farmers in the country with 400 million chickens had to face grave challenges of how to earn their bread and rebuild their business.

"Farmers are the weakest link that would be hit worst and have great difficulty in applying loans and collecting investment to restart their business," He said.

Given the above concerns, FAO has called for a long-term solution to the current crisis. Livestock production should be based on a pro-poor and environmentally friendly approach, which should be integrated into national poverty and food insecurity alleviation program, He concluded. 

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2004)