**PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION**

## Regional Office, World Health Organization

## News Release

## PAHO Calls for North-South Cooperation to Prepare for Pandemic

**Washington, D.C., March 9, 2006 (PAHO)** --- The twin threats of avian
influenza and a human influenza pandemic require cooperation between
countries and across regions, representatives of the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) said today in Washington at a special briefing on
avian flu at the U.S. Capitol. They called for greater support for
hemisphere-wide efforts to fight these threats.

"It doesn't matter if we try to protect the North with all the resources
that we have," said Dr. Joxel Garcia, Deputy Director of PAHO. "If avian
influenza or pandemic flu breaks out in the South, it will have an
impact on the North. We need to protect all the people in the north, the
south, and the center of this hemisphere."

"Our region has been seen as low priority in terms of international
assistance for fighting these diseases, but we are just as vulnerable in
this hemisphere as any other," said Dr. Carissa Etienne, PAHO's
Assistant Director.

The PAHO officials emphasized that the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu
virus, which has spread to nearly 40 countries around the world, has not
yet reached the Americas. But U.S. Representative Michael Burgess
(R-Texas) said it was probably only a question of time. "Because of the
flyways of migratory birds, we could well expect it to enter this
country by next fall."

Etienne agreed: "Australia, the United States, and Canada are online for
avian influenza outbreaks."

Avian influenza is an animal disease that has caused relatively few
human cases---175 laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide, with 96 deaths,
as of March 8. Nearly all human illnesses have been traced to close
contact with infected poultry, particularly slaughtering, butchering and
defeathering at home. Experts in food safety from PAHO and the World
Health Organization (WHO) emphasize that properly handled and cooked
poultry meat is safe to consume even in countries where the virus has
been detected.

But in recent months, H5N1 has spread rapidly from Asia to Europe,
Africa and the Middle East, resulting in the death or culling of more
than 150 million birds and causing billions of dollars in economic
losses.

Experts are closely monitoring H5N1 because, theoretically, it could
mutate to become easily transmissible between humans. Since humans have
little or no immunity to the virus, a readily transmissible strain would
spark a human influenza pandemic that could spread rapidly to countries
around the world.

"We don't know when or if H5N1 will cause the next pandemic," said
Etienne. "What is clear is that we are now in one of the longest
inter-pandemic periods in history. But that allows us a window of
opportunity to plan and mitigate the potential mortality, morbidity, and
social and economic disruption."

PAHO is working with its member countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean to develop national pandemic preparedness plans and has set a
target date of July 2006 for all its member countries to have finalized
plans. PAHO is organizing workshops and training to develop the plans
along guidelines provided by WHO. PAHO is also promoting modeling tools
developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
to forecast the impact of a potential pandemic in such areas as health
care services and the workforce.

In addition, the organization is working with other international
agencies to prepare for the possible arrival of H5N1 avian influenza in
the Americas. Yesterday, representatives of the World Organization for
Animal Health (OIE), the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and
the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) met at PAHO headquarters to
discuss these joint efforts.

Today's congressional briefing was cohosted by Rep. Silvestre Reyes,
(D-Texas), and Burgess. Reyes emphasized the importance of preparation
now, from the international to national to community levels.

"There are 31,600 flights in and out and within the United States every
day. With that kind of travel, pandemic flu can spread really quickly,"
said Reyes. "It is vital that we have a plan in place on how we're going
to address it. We have a lot of work to do, and we need the resource
capability to confront the challenge."

PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health
organization. It works with all the countries of the Americas to improve
the health and the quality of life of the people of the Americas.

**Additional reading:**

•                                 [PAHO web page on
influenza](http://www.paho.org/English/AD/DPC/CD/influenza.htm)

•                                 [WHO Handbook for Journalists:
Influenza
Pandemic](http://www.who.int/csr/don/Handbook_influenza_pandemic_dec05.pdf)

•                                 [Bird Flu: Communicating the Risk,
article in Perspectives in Health
magazine](http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/Number22_article1.htm)

**Press Releases on the Same Subject:**

> •          [International Agencies Plan Joint Action against Bird Flu
> in the Americas](http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/pr060308.htm)

•                                 [PAHO Assists Bahamas in Investigation
of Bird Deaths](http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/pr060303.htm)

•                                 [Avian vs. Pandemic Flu: Understanding
the Threat](http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/pr051220.htm)

•                                 [PAHO Calls Attention to Avian Flu at
Summit of the Americas](http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/pr051107.htm)

 

For more information please contact Donna Eberwine-Villagrán, email: 
<eberwind@paho.org>, Tel 202 974 3122 --
[www.paho.org](http://www.paho.org/)