No bird or human in Singapore infected so far

The Straits Times, February 5, 2007


SIX suspected bird flu patients have been reported in Singapore so far this year, but none was actually infected.

As neighbouring Indonesia prepares to declare bird flu a national disaster, the authorities, hospitals and farms in Singapore continue to adhere to strict preventive measures to guard against the virus. No bird or human has been infected here so far.

Singapore is also sticking to its plans to use Tamiflu - an antiviral that is the most effective known treatment for bird flu - despite the emergence of mutated bird flu virus strains that are resistant to the drug.

It recently reached its target stockpile of 1.05 million doses of Tamiflu.

Bird flu was made a notifiable disease here in December 2005, which means that all doctors are required to inform the Ministry of Health of any likely case they treat.

The six patients had been tagged 'suspect' and isolated by doctors at Tan Tock Seng Hospital because they had flu-like symptoms or pneumonia after returning from countries known to have bird flu outbreaks such as China, Indonesia and Thailand.

Since the bird flu crisis first exploded in 2004, the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has increased the number of samples of imported and local poultry it checks, and examined these more carefully for bird flu.

In the past month, it tested 131 imported poultry and birds, 294 local poultry and birds in the zoo and 139 migratory and wild birds. All were free of bird flu.

The Health Ministry has not altered its battle plan as it follows recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which has said there is not enough evidence that the strains are significantly resistant or will pose a major public health threat by rendering Tamiflu redundant.

At least two mutated strains of the H5N1 bird flu virus have shown 'moderate resistance to the frontline antiviral Tamiflu', the WHO said. One, called 294S, killed two people in Egypt last December, while the other, called 274Y, killed two in Vietnam more than a year before that.

Still, 'there is no cause for concern', said Associate Professor Paul Ananth Tambyah, an infectious disease specialist at the National University of Singapore, as there are alternatives to Tamiflu.

For example, Relenza, the second-choice drug after Tamiflu, still works against 274Y, he said, adding that several other drugs are also being tested in clinical trials.

Singapore has stocked 50,000 doses of Relenza and has also contracted a vaccine manufacturer to make up to 10 million doses of vaccines upon successful testing.


By Lee Hui Chieh