Potemkin
12-04-2004, 11:39 PM
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200412/kt2004120216490111970.htm
Bird Flu Damage Predicted to Top $130 Bil. in Asia by 2005
By Bae Keun-min
Staff Reporter
Bird flu is expected to cause a total of $130 billion worth of damage in Asia by 2005 amid growing calls to launch a global network to prevent another outbreak of the highly contagious avian disease as well as other epidemics.
In response to such needs, the 2004 International Conference on Zoonoses will take place in Seoul on Friday, the first of its kind in Asia, as part of steps to establish a network against epidemics.
The symposium has been arranged as most new epidemics occurring in the past 30 years, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and bird flu, have affected both humans and animals.
Around 170 epidemic experts across the globe will participate in the conference, including officials from the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States.
``Through the international symposium, we seek to prepare a global network for efficient cooperation against epidemics in order to minimize damages from the diseases,'' a Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) official said.
According to the Oxford Economic Forecasting, bird flu is expected to cause $60 billion worth of damage to China alone till next year since 2003, with $130 billion worth of damage to Asian nations as a whole, said Hur Young-joo, an official from the MOHW.
South Korea has destroyed 5.29 million heads of fowls worth 150 billion won due to the avian influenza, since the first bird flu case in the nation was reported in December last year. With losses in tourism and trade, the nation took care of damage equivalent to 0.6 percent of the gross domestic product in 2003 alone.
Although South Korea has been classified as a green area free from the bird epidemic as there has been no case of the disease for more than six months since March this year, there still remains a possibility the disease could be reintroduced into the nation.
The Korean quarantine authorities have strengthened prevention measures, but the efforts will not be effective without international cooperation, the MOHW official said.
WHO Director General Lee Jong-wook has also warned there is a high possibility that the avian disease may recur and spread around the world next year.
If bird flu breaks out again, it may cause the death of up to 100 million people worldwide all within a few weeks of outburst, according to the WHO.
In the same vein of prevention efforts, the Korean government has designated the November-February period as a special alert period for the epidemic.
But the avian influenza is not the only epidemic that both humans and animals have been at risk of. The WHO has designated around 30 kinds of epidemics as emerging and reemerging infectious diseases (EIDs) since the 1970's, including mad cow disease, AIDS and SARS.
Although South Korea has had no nationally confirmed case of SARS, the disease took 812 lives out of suspected 8,439 patients in 30 countries. Of the deceased, 348 were Chinese and 298 were Hong Kong residents.
AIDS-related patients are estimated to amount to 39.4 million people in the world as of the end of this year since the first case was reported in 1981, according to the WHO.
Bird Flu Damage Predicted to Top $130 Bil. in Asia by 2005
By Bae Keun-min
Staff Reporter
Bird flu is expected to cause a total of $130 billion worth of damage in Asia by 2005 amid growing calls to launch a global network to prevent another outbreak of the highly contagious avian disease as well as other epidemics.
In response to such needs, the 2004 International Conference on Zoonoses will take place in Seoul on Friday, the first of its kind in Asia, as part of steps to establish a network against epidemics.
The symposium has been arranged as most new epidemics occurring in the past 30 years, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and bird flu, have affected both humans and animals.
Around 170 epidemic experts across the globe will participate in the conference, including officials from the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States.
``Through the international symposium, we seek to prepare a global network for efficient cooperation against epidemics in order to minimize damages from the diseases,'' a Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) official said.
According to the Oxford Economic Forecasting, bird flu is expected to cause $60 billion worth of damage to China alone till next year since 2003, with $130 billion worth of damage to Asian nations as a whole, said Hur Young-joo, an official from the MOHW.
South Korea has destroyed 5.29 million heads of fowls worth 150 billion won due to the avian influenza, since the first bird flu case in the nation was reported in December last year. With losses in tourism and trade, the nation took care of damage equivalent to 0.6 percent of the gross domestic product in 2003 alone.
Although South Korea has been classified as a green area free from the bird epidemic as there has been no case of the disease for more than six months since March this year, there still remains a possibility the disease could be reintroduced into the nation.
The Korean quarantine authorities have strengthened prevention measures, but the efforts will not be effective without international cooperation, the MOHW official said.
WHO Director General Lee Jong-wook has also warned there is a high possibility that the avian disease may recur and spread around the world next year.
If bird flu breaks out again, it may cause the death of up to 100 million people worldwide all within a few weeks of outburst, according to the WHO.
In the same vein of prevention efforts, the Korean government has designated the November-February period as a special alert period for the epidemic.
But the avian influenza is not the only epidemic that both humans and animals have been at risk of. The WHO has designated around 30 kinds of epidemics as emerging and reemerging infectious diseases (EIDs) since the 1970's, including mad cow disease, AIDS and SARS.
Although South Korea has had no nationally confirmed case of SARS, the disease took 812 lives out of suspected 8,439 patients in 30 countries. Of the deceased, 348 were Chinese and 298 were Hong Kong residents.
AIDS-related patients are estimated to amount to 39.4 million people in the world as of the end of this year since the first case was reported in 1981, according to the WHO.