Bird flu early warning system to be set up by UN

According to a United Nations official an early warning bird flu system is to be set up to alert countries of incoming migratory birds which could be carrying the deadly virus.

The system will take up to two years to become operational and will provide precise details of the arrival times and destinations of types of wild birds, in order to give countries enough time to prepare.

Robert Hepworth, a U.N. official who heads the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), says as migrations don't all occur on the same day or even at the same time and are affected by either local or seasonal variations in climate, a system is needed whereby sufficient warning can be given.

The growing outbreak of the HSN1 avian influenza has now spread to poultry to several Asian and European countries, killing 67 people since late 2003 and governments are battling to contain the virus.

Hepworth says that scientists, governments and experts across the world had information about migratory birds, but it was currently inaccessible and not shared.

He says the new system would collect all the information and centralise it in a global computerised form which would constantly update and monitor bird migration patterns, and warn countries of any potential threat.

Hepworth believes the system will have several stages of alert and warning and will be able to provide generic information about particular species which will be arriving at a particular time, which may be carrying the virus.

It is hoped the system would give countries as much warning as possible.

The system is being set up by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and CMS, a treaty concluded under the aegis of UNEP, and the project will gather a team of experts to collect information, maps and charts from national governments, conservation and wildlife bodies.

According to Hepworth the main beneficiaries of the system would be developing countries, many of which do not have enough resources to take countrywide preventative action.

As the problem in Africa and other developing countries is that the kind of measures that may be appropriate in Europe such as locking up poultry and separating them from wild birds are not practical, he says.

The early warning system will apparently pinpoint where the higher risk areas might be, so developing countries can target those specific areas in a more cost-effective, general countrywide approach.

The cost of setting up the bird flu early warning system is expected to be between $200,000-$300,000, which UNEP and CMS officials say is a small amount compared to the budgets being spent on containing the virus.

But they also add that the challenge will not be the financial resources required but the commitment required from stakeholders in devoting the time and energy in providing the required information.