March 1, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 30, 1427

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PESHAWAR, Feb 28: Health experts said on Tuesday that there was a shortage of locally-produced flu vaccines in the country after two poultry farms began culling thousands of chickens infected with a mild form of bird flu.

“Those exposed to the virus in poultry farms should get a vaccine used for normal influenza,” a WHO official said, adding that the organisation had developed control measures and trained public health experts to deal with any emergency.

“The birds in poultry farms have also been vaccinated but there is no vaccine in Pakistan in case the virus’ mutating form triggers a pandemic,” the WHO official said.

“Those who handle poultry have been told to take precautionary measures and use masks, gloves and boots,” said Dr Fayaz Ali, assistant director at the provincial health department. “But there is no cause for alarm.”

“The problem is that chances of mutation of the avian flu virus are so high that every time an outbreak occurs, a new strain of virus is detected,” said Dr Mirza Ali Khan of the Veterinary Research Institute in Peshawar.

He, however, said that the form of bird flu reported from other countries was different from cases reported in Charsadda and Abbottabad.

The government sector, according to official sources, does not have sufficient stocks to meet any eventuality because the budgetary allocation for the health sector is not sufficient.

According to the World Health Organisation officials based in Peshawar, the situation can become critical as there is no known effective vaccine available in Pakistan for this newly emerged virus.

The influenza vaccine is costly to produce because it requires expensive machinery and modern technology, according to health officials.

Companies tend to produce the vaccine only when demand for the vaccine peaks.

Every time the viral disease spreads, there is a shortage of the product, according to Dr Mirza.

Health officials said there were few domestic vaccine production companies in the country as it was not seen as a profitable business. In the past they said the government had not encouraged vaccine development and production.