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SEOUL, Oct 13: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday that it was just a matter of time before a global bird flu epidemic broke out, with disastrous results which would dwarf the impact from SARS,report agencies.
"Considering the current situation, it seems to be a matter of time before a flu pandemic takes place," WHO director general Lee Jong-Wook told Yonhap news agency.
"Such an outbreak would bring about disastrous results, which will be huge enough to dwarf those from SARS," he said.
SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) has left 700 people dead and cost 30 billion dollars in economic damage worldwide since it broke out in 2003.
At least 60 people have died from bird flu in the Southeast Asia region since 2003, the majority of them in Vietnam.
The WHO fears the H5N1 avian flu virus may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious as well as lethal -- possibly killing millions worldwide as the influenza pandemic of 1918 did.
Lee, who took the helm of the UN public health arm in 2003, also warned that a bird flu outbreak in South Korea alone could affect millions of people in a short period of time.
No human cases have been reported in South Korea so far, but 5.3 million poultry were infected and slaughtered between December 2003 and March 2004.
South Korean health authorities have warned that a bird flu outbreak could infect 10 million people, of whom 30,000 could die "in a very short period of time."
The agriculture and forestry ministry here said a nationwide bird flu alert would be issued Friday following outbreaks in Asia and Europe. An Indonesian teenager released from hospital earlier this month after being told she had not contracted the deadly bird flu virus has died, a medical official said Thursday.
Wina Eka Dewi, 18, was still suffering from respiratory problems when she was released but the cause of her death was not immediately known, he said, adding that body samples had been taken for further tests.
Meanwhile:Vietnam, Indonesia and Laos on Thursday won more than 17 million dollars from international donors to help fight the bird flu virus that has killed more than 60 people in Asia and triggered fears of a global pandemic.
The pledges came as a top-level delegation of US and global health officials toured Southeast Asia, searching for ways to curb the spread of the H5N1 virus that scientists fear could quickly spread around the world and kill millions.
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