As South Africa braces itself for the possibility of an outbreak of avian influenza, the department of health says there is no need to panic, and that there is no immediate danger.
”We share the sentiments of affected countries that we should take precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the flu,” says Solly Mabote, spokesperson for the Department of Health. ”The department has a preparatory plan to curb the spread of the flu, and we are also working with the Medicines Control Council [MCC] to fast-track the regis-tration of the flu vaccine, Tamiflu.”
He said preparations by the agriculture and health departments are still at the contingency stage and would include the stockpiling of the Tamiflu vaccine, surveillance of migrating birds, early detection and identification of people with symptoms and the provision of medical equipment such as face masks.
Visitors to the country, particularly from South-East Asia and southern Europe will be quarantined if they display symptoms.
”The process of screening migrants is an ongoing national exercise at our airports whenever there is a threat of a contagious virus spreading in the world,” Mabote said.
The flu spreads from birds and animals to humans and, while there is no scien-tific evidence that it is spread from person to person, Mabote warns that the possibility should not be ruled out.
The department of agriculture says that live birds will only be imported from countries that have been free from avian flu for the six months preceding the outbreak. All birds imported from avian flu-free countries are tested at origin, quaran-tined and retested in South Africa. Other products of poultry origin, such as feathers, will only be imported if they are then treated to deactivate the virus.
Aside from ostriches and chickens, pigs and cats have also been identified as susceptible to the virus. These animals will also be tested upon importation.
The department says strict bio-security measures will be put in place and inspections at abattoirs will be conducted to ensure that only healthy chickens are slaughtered for consumption.
Department of Agriculture spokesperson Steve Galane says the dangers of the virus spreading here are minimal, and the ”European Union has concurred that South Africa is free from the threat of an outbreak”.
Researchers from the Durban Natu-ral Science Museum and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute tried but failed to capture migrating birds on the east coast for testing.
”We then resorted to watching them through a telescope and marked the places where they landed to pick up sample droppings for viral tests,” says David Allan from the Durban Natural Science Museum. The droppings were then taken to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute where more tests will be run over the next two weeks.
Avian flu’s six phases
1. Awareness is raised as an outbreak begins elsewhere. South Africa is in this phase.
2. The virus becomes a nuisance by spreading throughout one species.
3. It affects other species, such as pigs and cats.
4. Infection begins to spread rapidly and uncontrollably.
5. The virus begins to affect humans.
6. The virus affects more people than animals and is spread by humans across borders, giving it epidemic status.