With concern about the worldwide threat of bird flu growing, the
federal government has made plans to increase the nation’s
supply of the antiviral pill Tamiflu in case the disease enters the
U.S., but local health officials say the flu presents no immediate
danger to Los Angeles.
There have been more than 100 cases of avian flu in humans since
it was discovered in China in 2003, 60 of which have resulted in
death.
Since then, avian flu has been detected in Romania, Thailand,
Russia and Taiwan.
The U.S. currently has enough of the drug to treat 4 million
people, but government officials have said as many as 67 million
people could be infected nationwide if there were a massive
epidemic.
For now, UCLA and Los Angeles health officials say the disease
does not pose an imminent threat.
At this point, the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness
Center does not have any specific plans in place should the virus
spread to the U.S. But JoAnn Dawson, director of primary care at
the Ashe Center, said the staff has been watching the
situation.
“We have been monitoring reports since January, such as
published reports from the (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention) … to stay on top of any changes that are going
on,” Dawson said.
“There is no evidence that the virus is here. There is no
evidence that the version found in Vietnam is here.”
The patent for the antiviral pill is currently owned by the
Swiss company Hoffman-La Roche, which agreed Thursday to negotiate
with the U.S. to help expand the nation’s supply.
Though not actually a vaccine, Tamiflu, if administered early,
can mitigate the severity of the illness and help contain the
virus. The drug has been proven in clinical trials to combat avian
flu in humans.
Rick Greenwood, a UCLA professor of public health, said bird flu
presents no danger to students at the university at this time and
“the current situation doesn’t call for any
action.”
“We have a (medical) center on campus and student-health
people on campus to deal with the disease. Students are fairly
young and healthy, and the flu shouldn’t be that severe in
the student population,” Greenwood said.
Bird flu is passed through the bodily fluids of poultry. The
more than 100 reported cases of bird flu in Southeast Asia occurred
after contact with an infected bird, generally in chicken
farms.
Robert Kim-Farley, a professor at the UCLA School of Public
Health, said human-to-human transmission of the bird flu is
uncommon.
“Extremely rarely, human-to-human transmission is
documented,” he said.
But he said a mutation that would make the virus transmissible
among humans is possible.
“If a person had bird flu, and at the same time had human
influenza, the viruses could mix, and the new virus would have the
severity of bird flu and the transmissibility of human flu. When
human-to-human transmission occurs, this could lead to a
pandemic,” Kim-Farley said.
Los Angeles health officials are currently planning ways to
respond in case such a mutation occurs.
“We are preparing influenza-preparedness plans of action.
Local, state and federal governments are preparing
pandemic-preparedness plans,” Kim-Farley said.
If vaccinations were to become necessary, the city would be
faced with logistical difficulties, and the vaccine would not
likely be immediately available, he said.
“If people in L.A. come down with avian flu, there may be
needs for vaccination, which would take six months to prepare. For
people that show symptoms, there are antiviral drugs that are
effective against avian influenza,” Kim-Farley said.
Dr. Brit Oiulfstad, an epidemiologist at the Los Angeles
Department of Public Health, said the antiviral drug is part of the
strategic national stockpile, which is released by the federal
government using its own discretion.
With reports from Bruin wire services.