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| Flu Pandemic Risks Sparking Global Recession | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 3 2005, 12:20 PM (79 Views) | |
| abuturab82 | Nov 3 2005, 12:20 PM Post #1 |
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Flu pandemic risks sparking global recession Thu Nov 3, 2005 5:15 PM GMT166 Printer Friendly | Email Article | RSS Related Pictures Related Articles Bird flu threatens Asian, African way of life -UN Russia warns of risk of bird flu passing to humans GMO chickens may help to lessen bird flu threat World Bank, ADB see huge risks from bird flu Five SE Asia nations join hands to fight bird flu Vietnam rules out bird flu in two deaths Bird flu risk is not yet real for investors French bird flu drill sparks poultry sales fears By Jerry Norton and Harry Suhartono JAKARTA (Reuters) - A bird flu pandemic risks triggering a global recession, the Asian Development Bank said on Thursday, as Indonesia treated three young children suspected of being the latest victims of the virus. Five Southeast Asian nations said they would boost cooperation to fight the virus, which has killed 62 people in Asia and infected 122 since late 2003. The disease has since spread to Europe and it is feared migratory birds could carry it to Africa. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a conference in New York on Thursday that bird flu's rapid spread could spell the end of a lifestyle dominant in much of Asia and Africa, where people live alongside their domestic animals. The ADB said a year-long shock from bird flu in humans would cost Asian economies as much as $283 billion (160 billion pounds) and would reduce the region's gross domestic product by 6.5 percentage points, hitting the trading hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore the hardest. "Avian flu presents a major potential challenge to the development of the region, perhaps the most serious since the financial crisis of 1997," said the Manila-based ADB. "A pandemic will likely slow or halt economic growth in Asia and lead to a significant reduction in trade, particularly of services. In the long run, potential economic growth will be lower and poverty will increase." The World Bank, in its twice-yearly report on East Asia's economies, said on Thursday avian flu was a big risk to growth in 2006 due to potential policy actions such as quarantines and travel restrictions. In Indonesia, where four people have died of bird flu since July, Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said three children, all under the age of 5, had high fever, shortness of breath and signs of viral infection. Asked by a reporter whether test results had been received, Supari said: "Not yet, maybe in two or three days hopefully, because this is a holiday, but looking at the symptoms ... there's a large possibility that it is bird flu." In Vietnam, the country hardest hit by the virus, a senior health official ruled out bird flu as the cause of last week's deaths of two people, state newspapers said. But they said a 25-year-old woman was in hospital with suspected bird flu. Bird flu has infected more than 90 people in Vietnam and 41 have died since the latest outbreak in Asia began in late 2003. Experts fear the virus could mutate into a form easily passed between people and unleash a pandemic. LIFESTYLE CHANGES Annan said the spread of the virus might necessitate a change in lifestyle for many people in rural parts of the world. "We must help people accept that the current strain of bird flu challenges a way of life that has been with us for centuries -- that of people living in close proximity with their animals," Annan told the Time Global Health Summit in New York. "Hard as it will be, we must find ways of structuring that coexistence or we will never be able to stop viruses migrating from animals to us -- and to our children," he said. Experts say the disease must be controlled in poultry in Asia where farmers and livestock live side-by-side. This proximity increases the risks of more people becoming infected and the chances of a mutation that could allow H5N1 to pass easily among humans. Health experts are warning that many nations are not doing enough to prepare for a flu pandemic that could sweep across the globe, following the pattern of three pandemics that killed millions during the 20th century. French officials in protective suits and masks sealed off a farm in the west of the country and set up road blocks on Thursday as they staged an exercise to test their ability to deal with an outbreak of bird flu. However, some locals said the exercise would make people think that bird flu had arrived in the region, an important centre for poultry farms and feared it could further depress poultry sales. (Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan in Bangkok, John O'Callaghan in Manila, Ho Binh Minh in Hanoi, Anna Willard in Kergloff, France, Irwin Arieff in New York, Tan Ee Lyn in Hong Kong) |
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2:08 PM Jul 11