John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT has established a special task force to protect the country against an outbreak of the deadly Avian Flu (bird flu) virus that has, so far, killed hundreds of birds and poultry and dozens of persons as it spreads rapidly across Asia and sections of Europe.
"In essence what we have done is to put this task force in place which gives responsibility to particular people and particular agents to do certain things in case there is an outbreak and also to deal with things which could cause an outbreak," Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke, explained yesterday.
According to the minister, the task force forms part of efforts to prevent an outbreak of the highly contagious virus, which originates in birds and poultry, but has since mutated into a strain that now affects humans. Scientists now fear that the virus could mutate into a more contagious form which could happen if a person with the common flu contracts the bird flu.
The task force comprises representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, the large poultry production companies, Caribbean Poultry Association, Veterinary Division, the security forces, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), among others.
DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITIES
"We are putting in place the diagnostic capabilities, personnel to deal with diagnosis, material and reagents (and) coordinate our efforts to ensure there is no duplication in what we do and try to put together a budget," the Agriculture Minister explained.
United States president George W. Bush announced his intention yesterday to ask Congress for US$7.1 billion in emergency funding to mitigate against spread of bird flu in that country.
The U.S. President also announced that he has asked for an additional US$251 million to assist other countries to prevent the outbreak of the virus. The virus has so far infected 16 countries in Europe and Asia and killed 62 of the 121 people infected.
