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NEW YORK - SULL'AVIARIA, TIMORE PANDEMIA
L' ONU: SAREBBERO IN AUMENTO LE POSSIBILITA' CHE IL VIRUS MUTI
Lo ha ammonito David Nabarro, il funzionario delle Nazioni unite che
sovrintende alla sindrome
11 febbraio 2006
DAVID NABARRO
NEW YORK -
La diffusione dell'influenza aviaria dall'Asia all'Europa orientale, ed ora
all'Africa occidentale, ha fatto aumentare le possibilità che il virus muti,
causando una pandemia tra gli esseri umani. E' quanto ha ammonito stamani il
funzionario dell'Onu, che sovrintende ai problemi relativi alla sindrome,
David Nabarro. Lo stesso Nabarro ha aggiunto che finora non ci sono prove
del mutamento del virus H5N1.
"Sfortunatamente, non possiamo dire quando avverrà la mutazione, o dove ciò
si realizzerà, o quanto sarà 'cattiva' tale mutazione", ha precisato Nabarro
in un'intervista all'Associated Press.
"Nondimeno - ha aggiunto - dobbiamo mantenere una forte allerta per la
possibilità della trasmissione del virus da uomo a uomo o di una pandemia
che può esplodere in qualsiasi momento".
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argomenti correlati
Flu pandemic "two
mutations away"
Saturday 11 February 2006
The bird flu virus is only two mutations away from a form that can spread
easily between people, sparking a pandemic in which millions could die.
Dr David Nabarro, who heads the UN drive to contain the virus, told weekly
Portugese newspaper Expresso that "only two mutations are needed for it to
become easily transmissible among humans.
"I wake up every morning thinking that today could be the day that I will
see a report about a strange case of bird flu among humans," he added, in
the interview published on Saturday.
Italy, Greece
Dr Nabarro's statement came amidst reports that the virulent H5N1 bird flu
virus had reached Italy and Greece.
The virus was found in swans in three Italian regions: Puglia and Calabria
in southern Italy, and Sicily, said Health Minister Francesco Storace.
In Greece, the H5N1 strain was found in three swans in the north of the
country.
Nigeria
In Nigeria, authorities were investigating whether the bird flu virus had
spread to humans after several people were reported ill, the health minister
said on Saturday.
Eyitayo Lambo, the Health Minister, said his officials were investigating
"one or two cases of reported illnesses" among humans which could be due to
bird flu, though none had been confirmed so far.
The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed tens of millions of birds since 2003, and
there have been at least 165 confirmed cases of the strain spreading to
humans, causing about 90 deaths, mostly in Asia.
Pandemic fears
The virus has spread from Asia to eastern Europe, and Nigeria this week
reported Africa's first known outbreak of the deadly strain of the disease.
Experts have long said that the H5N1 virus could mutate into a form that is
easily transmitted by humans and spark a global pandemic, potentially
killing millions.
Nabarro said he had told governments around the world to prepare for the
arrival of a human-to-human strain of the virus "as if this will happen
tomorrow."
In 1918, an influenza pandemic that was believed to have originated in birds
killed more than 40 million people around the world.
Subsequent pandemics in 1957 and 1968 had lower death rates but still caused
widespread disruption.
"I wake up every morning thinking that today could be the day that I will
see a report about a strange case of bird flu among humans" , said dr David
Nabarro,
UN bird flu panel chief.
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