ASEAN establishes a stock of bird flu medicines

ASEAN member states have agreed to choose Singapore as a storage center for oseltamivir as an attempt to prepare for the possibility of bird flu in the region.

Specific plans for this issue will be discussed further in ASEAN health officials' meetings in Singapore and the Philippines next month. Singapore was chosen as the most suitable place to make a 'bank' of drugs because the H5N1 virus has never appeared here and because of its favorable position in transferring drugs to the epidemic areas.

Yesterday, the Thai Ministry of Agriculture said the H5N1 virus had reappeared on poultry belonging to a government training center in the northeast, bordering Laos.

On the same day, Japan announced the discovery of a rare falcon that died of H5N1 infection in the area where three bird flu outbreaks occurred earlier this year.

Indonesian health workers spray disinfectants on chickens.On Thursday, a 32-year-old Indonesian man was the latest victim in the region to die from bird flu (Photo: AFP).

SN