Bird flu experts travel to Asia
British scientists are to travel to south east Asia to investigate how an outbreak of deadly bird flu could be tackled in the future.
Experts from the Medical Research Council (MRC) will visit the region where the virus has claimed 60 lives.
The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, warned a bird flu pandemic could kill 50,000 people in the UK.
He said a deadly outbreak would come when bird flu mutated with human flu but was unlikely to happen this winter.
Meanwhile, a laboratory at Weybridge is expected to announce on Monday whether Romania has another cluster of bird flu.
It will confirm whether the virus is to blame for the deaths of swans in fish ponds near the village of Maliuc, in the Danube Delta.
New vaccine
Scientists from the MRC, in a team led by Professor Colin Blakemore, are expected to visit China, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
Their findings on how to tackle an outbreak of the virus will be presented to an international conference in London in December.
The organisation, which discovered the flu virus in 1933, is considered a world leader in the field.
Sir Liam told the BBC that bird flu would probably kill about 50,000 people in the UK and a death toll of 750,000 was "not impossible".
"In a normal winter flu year... flu actually kills in excess of 12,000 people," he said.
But the epicentre of any new strain was likely to be in East Asia, Sir Liam added.
The UK has so far stockpiled 2.5m doses of anti-viral drugs - and may restrict travel if there is an outbreak.
On Saturday, UK tests confirmed a case in Romania of a strain of bird flu which is potentially deadly to humans, sparking fears avian flu could spread to the UK through migrating birds .
Sir Liam said it was "less likely" that any new flu strain would come this year.
Contingency plan
However he said that if the flu first emerged in another part of the world it would give UK scientists time to try to create an effective vaccine against the virus before it arrived in the UK.
He said a contingency plan was being released on Thursday, outlining the steps the government would take in the event of an outbreak.
Dr Martin Wiselka, consultant in infectious diseases at Leicester Royal Infirmary, said a death toll of 50,000 was a "complete guess".
"It could be worse, it could be better. I think initially it could be worse than that," he said.
"When a new strain arrives it tends to be more virulent but then it slows down. But the honest answer is we don't know."
GLOSSARY
Bird flu – ptasia grypa
an outbreak – sudden beginning - wybuch
tackle – to deal with something difficult – rozprawiac sie z czymś
mutate – to develope new phisical characteristics because of permament change in genes - mutować
cluster – a group of sth - zgromadzenie
Danube - Dunaj
a death toll – liczba ofiar śmiertelnych
in excess of – more than - ponad
epicentre - episentrum
strain – napięcie, tu. zagrożenie
stockpile - skłądować
anti-viral drugs – leki antywirusowe
restrict – to limit, ograniczyć
to spark – a small event or problem which causes a much worse situation - wywoływać
avian flu – bird flu
migrating birds- migrujące ptaki
Contingency – something that may happen causing problems –
Contingency plan – plan na ewentualność wypadku, plan kryzysowy
Vaccine - szczepionka
Outline – plan, zarys;
infectious diseases – choroby zakaźne
virulent – very strong and dangerous (abt disease) - złośliwa
[ Dodano: Pon 17 Paź, 2005 ]
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Oil prices rise on new storm fear
Oil prices rose by one dollar a barrel on Monday, as dealers grew nervous about the possibility of another storm hitting output in the Gulf of Mexico.
Tropical Storm Wilma, caused by a depression in the Caribbean, could move into the Gulf by Friday, said the US National Hurricane Center.
It comes in the wake of hurricanes Rita and Katrina, which shut US oil facilities. Six remain closed.
US crude was up $1.00 at $64.36 and Brent crude up $1.09 at $60.57.
However, prices are still off the August highs of above $70 a barrel.
Iran concern
A heightening of tension in Iran - the fourth-biggest global producer - also buoyed prices after bombings in the oil city of Ahvaz.
The latest storm is predicted to move toward the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico on Thursday, then reach the Gulf at the end of the week.
"In the present situation, this storm is bound to keep the market on edge," said Kevin Norrish, an analyst at Barclays Capital.
He said prices of gasoline and heating oil would be particularly sensitive if the storm hit.
Meanwhile Opec, whose member nations are already producing at the maximum of their capacity, revised down its 2005 forecast for growth in world oil demand by 200,000 barrels per day to 1.2 million bpd.
dealer – a person who does business
output - an amount of something produced by a person, machine, factory
crude - oil in a natural state that has not yet been treated
to be up – rise
off – away from
highs – pointes that are one of the biggest
buoy – keep high
to keep something on edge – to keep it nervous
analyst – someone who studies in detail, in order to discover more about it
OPEC – Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries
capasity - the total amount that can be contained or produced
revise down – to change
forecast - to say what you expect to happen in the future
demand - a need for something to be sold or supplied
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