WASHINGTON - Latin American and Caribbean countries are among the least well-prepared in the world for bird flu and must work quickly to get ready for its arrival, international officials said on Friday.
Very little of the money devoted to building up public health infrastructure ahead of possible H5N1 influenza outbreaks has gone to Latin America, even though many countries in the region rank among the worst-prepared in the world, the officials told a meeting of diplomats and large non-governmental organizations.
Dr. Chelston Brathwaite, director-general of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, a non-profit agency, called for a "Marshall Plan" to combat animal disease and promote food safety in the region.
"In some of the smaller economies, there are no laboratory facilities," Brathwaite said. "The bigger issue is a lack of preparedness of the agricultural and health sectors."
Brathwaite did not specify who should provide the money but said it would take $10 million to get it started.
"Unless we put into place this infrastructure, the countries will always be at risk, both from this disease and from other diseases," Brathwaite said.
California officials said on Thursday they expect bird flu to arrive on the U.S. West Coast as early as this summer. Once in the Americas, it could spread as quickly as it has across Europe, experts say.
Under the original Marshall Plan, named after then-U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall, the United States channeled over $13 billion between 1947 and 1951 to finance the economic recovery of Western Europe after World War II.
Bird flu may have a significant economic effect on some Latin American countries, especially Brazil, which is the world's largest chicken producer and exporter. Mexico also has a significant and growing poultry export business.
H5N1 avian influenza has now reached at least 40 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa. It has killed or forced the slaughter of hundreds of millions of birds and while it only rarely infects people, health experts fear it will mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans and cause a pandemic.
In January, big donors pledged $1.9 billion to help the developing world prepare for H5N1. The money was meant to help strengthen veterinary services, set up diagnostic labs and provide the testing and expertise to watch for outbreaks.
Most of the money has been centered on Asia, where the virus first emerged and reappeared in 2003.
"Very little or none of this has gone to Latin America and the Caribbean," said Dr. Carissa Etienne, Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization.
"This is the most inequitable region in the world," Etienne added. She said the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank had already offered some help.
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