Namibia prepares bird-flu contingency plan

NAMIBIA is stepping up its preparations against the deadly bird flu virus in the wake of fears that the virus could spread on the African continent.

A contingency plan in the event of an outbreak in Namibia should be ready for submission to the Prime Minister by the end of the week. In an interview with The Namibian yesterday, Deputy Director of the Emergency Management Unit, Gabriel Kangowa, said a meeting of Government, United Nations officials and the Red Cross tomorrow will finalise the contingency plan.He said while there is no cause for immediate alarm, Namibia can not take the risk of being ill-prepared for such a situation.”We are monitoring the areas most at risk.So far we haven’t had any case in Namibia but we can’t say it will never come,” said Kangowa.In December, Zimbabwe encountered its first case of bird flu among ostriches on a farm in the south of the country.A year earlier, thousands of chickens and ostriches had to be killed in South Africa as a lesser strain of the flu ravaged farms across the Eastern and Western Cape.But it was the death of thousands of birds in Nigeria earlier this month that has sounded a wake-up call that the African continent can no longer distance itself from the spread of the virus.Before then the disease was largely contained in Asia, although it has now started spreading to isolated areas in Europe.Test results for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus among Nigerian children and workers who may have been in contact with the birds are still being awaited.Health officials fear H5N1 could evolve into a virus that can be transmitted easily between people and become a pandemic.Most human cases of the disease so far have been linked to contact with infected birds.H5N1 has killed at least 88 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003, but no human cases have been confirmed in Africa so far.In Namibia, Kangowa said the Ministry of Environment’s Scientific Services unit had been assigned to determine the number of birds that migrate to or enter Namibia via other means or for other purposes.He said as soon as the contingency plan is finalised, his office will begin an aggressive public awareness campaign.It will become important for Namibians, especially poultry farmers, to report the sudden death of any birds, Kangowa said.While around the world, the avian virus had largely been contained among birds and human transmission is still rare, Kangowa said Namibia can not rule out that the virus can enter the country through its many visitors.Two State doctors recently returned from Congo-Brazzaville where they were brought up to speed on the latest developments as far as the virus is concerned.This information is being fed into the contingency plan.Kangowa said Government will also have to prepare financially for the possible impact the virus could have on Namibia, because at present the country does not have the capability to test for it.”We might be forced to call in some experts,” said Kangowa.”But I think we are on target.”Yesterday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned that bird flu posed a threat to the airline industry.Speaking at the opening of the second IATA-Asian Aerospace Aviation Summit in Singapore, IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said that if the virus mutated to become transmissible from person to person, the impact on airlines and the global economy could be enormous.”We have the experience of SARS behind us and we are working closely with the World Health Organisation to ensure that the air transport industry is prepared,” he said.In an interview with The Namibian yesterday, Deputy Director of the Emergency Management Unit, Gabriel Kangowa, said a meeting of Government, United Nations officials and the Red Cross tomorrow will finalise the contingency plan.He said while there is no cause for immediate alarm, Namibia can not take the risk of being ill-prepared for such a situation.”We are monitoring the areas most at risk.So far we haven’t had any case in Namibia but we can’t say it will never come,” said Kangowa.In December, Zimbabwe encountered its first case of bird flu among ostriches on a farm in the south of the country.A year earlier, thousands of chickens and ostriches had to be killed in South Africa as a lesser strain of the flu ravaged farms across the Eastern and Western Cape.But it was the death of thousands of birds in Nigeria earlier this month that has sounded a wake-up call that the African continent can no longer distance itself from the spread of the virus.Before then the disease was largely contained in Asia, although it has now started spreading to isolated areas in Europe.Test results for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus among Nigerian children and workers who may have been in contact with the birds are still being awaited.Health officials fear H5N1 could evolve into a virus that can be transmitted easily between people and become a pandemic.Most human cases of the disease so far have been linked to contact with infected birds.H5N1 has killed at least 88 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003, but no human cases have been confirmed in Africa so far.In Namibia, Kangowa said the Ministry of Environment’s Scientific Services unit had been assigned to determine the number of birds that migrate to or enter Namibia via other means or for other purposes.He said as soon as the contingency plan is finalised, his office will begin an aggressive public awareness campaign.It will become important for Namibians, especially poultry farmers, to report the sudden death of any birds, Kangowa said.While around the world, the avian virus had largely been contained among birds and human transmission is still rare, Kangowa said Namibia can not rule out that the virus can enter the country through its many visitors.Two State doctors recently returned from Congo-Brazzaville where they were brought up to speed on the latest developments as far as the virus is concerned.This information is being fed into the contingency plan.Kangowa said Government will also have to prepare financially for the possible impact the virus could have on Namibia, because at present the country does not have the capability to test for it.”We might be forced to call in some experts,” said Kangowa.”But I think we are on target.”Yesterday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned that bird flu posed a threat to the airline industry.Speaking at the opening of the second IATA-Asian Aerospace Aviation Summit in Singapore, IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said that if the virus mutated to become transmissible from person to person, the impact on airlines and the global economy could be enormous.”We have the experience of SARS behind us and we are working closely with the World Health Organisation to ensure that the air transport industry is prepared,” he said.