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FAO estimates Asia-Pacific bird flu losses at $10 million

FAO estimates Asia-Pacific bird flu losses at $10 million The Asia-Pacific region has suffered losses of around $10 million due to the bird flu pandemic, Food and Agriculture Organisations regional representative for Asia Pacific He Changchui said on Friday. He said over 200 million birds have been culled over two-and-a-half years due to the flu. All countries need to put in place vigilant surveillance and a timely action plan to prepare against further outbreaks, Changchui told reporters on the sidelines of regional conference on avian influenza control and pandemic preparedness in Asia. He said all countries in the region need

Asia-Pacific regional coordination to fight bird flu

Asia-Pacific regional coordination to fight bird flu The Asian Development Bank (ADB) began hosting Friday a meeting of major partners to discuss regional coordination to meet the threat posed by avian influenza in Asia and the Pacific, the ADB said in a news release. The event is a follow-up to an informal meeting, where regional donors shared information on their bird flu projects and activities in the region, on the sidelines of the high-level conference on bird flu in Beijing in January, said ADB. At the Beijing conference, the international community pledged 1.9 billion U.S. dollars for the fight against avian

Lack of aid weakening bird flu control in Asia

Lack of aid weakening bird flu control in Asia Weak disease-surveillance and inadequate aid are thwarting efforts to control bird flu in Asia, according to a senior official of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The organisations assistant director-general, He Changchui, was speaking at a press conference following a meeting of health and agriculture ministers from 11 Asian nations in Delhi, India last week (27-28 July). He said international aid was a third of what was needed to combat the epidemic in the region. In a joint declaration, the meetings delegates pledged to strengthen systems for detecting and containing bird flu outbreaks in people

Asia-Pacific steps up preparedness efforts against bird flu

Asia-Pacific steps up preparedness efforts against bird flu KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - China's financial hub Shanghai on Monday started screening international passengers for bird flu amid global fears that the virus could mutate into a more powerful form. Acknowledging that separation from Asia by thousands of kilometres of sea offers little protection, Australia and New Zealand also took steps to ward off a bird flu disaster. At least 68 people have died from bird flu since it emerged in Asia in 2003 - nearly two-thirds of them in Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization. So far, most human cases

ADB launches new anti-corruption plan for aid to Asia

ADB launches new anti-corruption plan for aid to Asia ALL CONTRACTS awarded by the Asian Development Bank are to be made public as part of a new anti-corruption plan, the Manila-based lender said. Under the plan, borrowers will be required to make public all contract awards, and to publish on the ADBs website contracts worth more than one million dollars, the multilateral institution said in a statement. The move is part of an anti-corruption review carried out by the bank. Facilities to report allegations of fraud and corruption will also be improved, the ADB said. More : business.inq7.net