Canadian aid agency funds bird flu vaccine study in 5 affected Asian nations

BEIJING (AP) - Researchers from five Asian countries are tackling the question of whether to vaccinate birds against avian flu in a study launched Tuesday by a Canadian aid agency. Public health officials from China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand will take part in the $1-million study funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre, said Stephen McGurk, the centre's regional director for Southeast and East Asia.

"We have, through complete accident, a very powerful natural experiment underway," McGurk told a news conference in Beijing. "Here in Asia we have a particularly interesting case with five countries basically pursuing almost five completely different" vaccination strategies, he said.

Thailand and Cambodia have made poultry vaccination illegal, while China, Vietnam and Indonesia have pursued aggressive vaccination programs - each with its own unique characteristics, he said. All have been hard-hit by bird flu.

The study will gather data through surveys and then compare the risks and costs of the different vaccination approaches and should have preliminary findings by next summer, McGurk said.

In the past, health officials have said that the killing of all birds within an affected area was the best way to control bird flu. But some countries, such as Indonesia, have said they cannot afford such culls and have turned to vaccinating instead.

Some 80 researchers and government officials from the five Asian countries, Canada and the United Nations gathered Monday in Beijing for a three-day seminar to co-ordinate the study and other prevention efforts, a statement said.

Worldwide, at least 113 people have died of bird flu. Although human fatalities have been the result of direct contact with infected poultry, health experts fear the virus will mutate into a form easily spread among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.

© The Canadian Press, 2006