Health Ministry buying ‘bird flu’ medication

As a back-up, the ministry is also purchasing flu vaccines to deal with "general influenza." Head of the committee established to plan "the Influenza Disaster Preparedness Plan," Dr Kumar Sundaraneedi, told Newsday that the ministry was in the process of purchasing Tamiflu from the pharmaceutical company Roche. An initial order has been made for 27,000 doses.

While the Caribbean has not identified any cases of the strain affecting birds and humans, Sundaraneedi said TT was "just preparing." He said a draft plan has been developed which covers health centres and airports. The public health lab will be doing the sampling of cases identified. Regional Health Authorities will identify isolation areas within hospitals as part of their own response plans. Sundaraneedi said their plans would be "in line" with the draft national plan which is circulating among stakeholders. "They will go through the plan and respond. We would then have a committee meeting to have a final plan."

The committee comprises representatives from the ministry, hospitals, primary health care facilities, Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (Carec), Pan American Health Organisation, Public Health Laboratory and National Surveillance Unit, director of the Veterinarian Section, and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Last Wednesday, Carec director, Dr James Hospedales, said the problem of bird flu appearing in Europe was due to migrant birds moving north and south. Alluding to the possibility of the disease reaching the Caribbean via migrant birds, he said the birds do not fly across the Atlantic or Pacific.

"Based on evidence, we know it is unlikely for this to emerge via birds." However, should H5N1 start spreading via people, Hospedales said it would be "a different ball game and within days it can arrive in the Caribbean." While there was concern after a bird from Suriname, which was quarantined in England, died of the virus, Hospedales said all the evidence suggested it acquired the disease after it left Suriname.