Channel NewsAsia 26 Mar 08;
BANGKOK: Asia's first anti-bird flu facility has opened in Bangkok to help fight any new avian influenza outbreaks in the region.
In Bangkok, the first of three worldwide anti-bird flu stockpiles is fully operational. It is ready to counter new occurrences of the disease with rapid response emergency kits.
A total of 45,000 pieces of personal protective equipment, 440 decontamination kits, ten laboratory specimen kits and four training packs worth over half a million US dollars will be stored in a warehouse near Suvarnabhumi Airport.
He Change Chui, Assistant Director General, Food and Agricultural Organisation, said: "The very purpose of this centre is to deliver equipment, commodities in the shortest time possible. In a few hours, Bangkok can reach anywhere."
US Ambassador to Thailand, Mr Eric John, inaugurated the Regional Distribution Centre, which is partly sponsored by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Oliver Carduner, Director of USAID RDMA, said: "We're able to mobilise these life-saving commodities within 24 hours of the order. Previously when they were based in the United States, depending on the method of shipment, it could take as long as two to three weeks to transport them."
The deadly H5N1 virus remains a grave threat around the region because of the large chicken and duck populations, with new outbreaks reported from the Laos border earlier this year.
Seventeen Thais have died from the disease since 2003 and Vietnam has reported five deaths so far this year.
Though the number of human deaths has declined since last year, scientists fear the virus could mutate and jump from human to human, sparking a global pandemic.- CNA/so
