BANGKOK/HONK KONG, 29 January 2004 — Asian nations hit with bird flu agreed yesterday to step up their battle against the potentially deadly disease by intensifying regional and international co-operation, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said.

“We emphasized that our individual efforts must be reinforced by effective regional and international co-operation in view of the magnitude of the challenge,” Surakiart said after half-day crisis talks.

“We commended the progress made by affected countries in controlling the spread of the animal disease and pledged to do more,” he said at a press conference.

The outbreak of bird flu broke out a year ago and probably began in southern China, the British publication New Scientist says.

“The outbreak began as early as the first half of 2003, probably in China,” the British scientific weekly says, citing health experts that it did not identify.

“A combination of official cover-up and questionable farming practices allowed it to turn into the epidemic now under way.”

The report is carried in next Saturday’s issue of New Scientist.

The unusually large number of ducks dying from the bird flu in southern China indicates the bug has become more virulent, which will put more people at risk of contracting it, Hong Kong scientists said yesterday.

They also raised the alarm about chilled and frozen poultry meat, saying the deadly H5N1 virus could survive for years in temperatures as low as minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 Fahrenheit), but repeated that it can be killed if meat is cooked properly.

Amid warnings that the virus that has spread to 10 nations including China could mutate into an even more deadly form, Surakiart said the experts agreed it was a serious threat to humans as well as to the poultry industry.

“Containment will require closer co-operation among governments, communities and business through regional and international organizations and other mechanisms,” he said.

“We recognized the need for careful monitoring and investigation to guard against possible human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 (strain of the) virus.”

In the face of charges that several Asian governments including Thailand had covered up their outbreaks, Surakiart said the new action plan was also designed to ensure “greater transparency and promptness of action”.

“We noted the importance of effective outreach and communication strategies to promote transparency and better public understanding of the extent and nature of the disease,” he said.

The crisis-hit nations also agreed to implement disease-control measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization on Animal Health — who were all represented at the talks. Despite the resolution, Indonesia is continuing to refuse to carry out a mass cull of chickens, which the WHO says is the best way to curb the outbreak.

The H5N1 strain of the virus so far has claimed at least 10 lives and led to the culling of more than 20 million chickens across Asia.

Under the agreement thrashed out at the meeting of ministers and officials from 12 nations and blocs, new fields of co-operation include research and development programs and the development of diagnostic tools, vaccines and antiviral drugs.

“We agreed to consider a regional veterinary surveillance network and link it with existing human health surveillance mechanisms to promote rapid, transparent and accurate exchange of information and provide early warning,” Surakiart said.

With a view to Asia’s lucrative tourism industry, he said the participants agreed there was no need to restrict the movement of people around the region.

“As there is yet no evidence of human to human transmission, we agreed the disease does not pose a threat to the travel and tourism industries, and travel restrictions are unnecessary,” he said. Ministers and officials from the affected nations of Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam took part in the discussions.

Taiwan and Pakistan have also been hit by weaker strains of the virus, but did not send officials. Representatives of the European Union and the United States, as well as Malaysia and Singapore which have so far escaped infection, also attended.

A representative from Hong Kong was invited to share the experience gained during an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in 1997 when it first jumped the species barrier and killed six people.