While the whole nation was gripped with the presumptive risk of mad cow disease, bird flu has emerged as a real danger.
Various signs show that avian influenza is becoming increasingly hard to contain. Unlike the previous two occurrences in 2003 and 2006, the latest strike of avian influenza has spread even to Seoul and in a surprisingly short period of a month or so. Before, the disease broke out in winter but disappeared when the weather got warmer. The current one, however, occurred in spring and is continuing through early summer. People used to link avian influenza to wild migrant birds in the past, but now urban resident birds like pigeons may have to be added to the list.
This notwithstanding, officials can hardly avoid blame for their laxity and incompetence. It was Saturday, five days after some birds died, that a district office in eastern Seoul sent them to a medical examiner, to have the cause of death confirmed. On Monday, Children's Day, half a million people visited a nearby zoo and spent time with animals, including birds.
The central government was little better. The loose response by the agriculture ministry failed to block the outflow of some poultry from the affected areas in the initial stage. Seoul issued a national alarm only Wednesday.
This makes a poor comparison with the Japanese officials, who set off a state of emergency upon the news of the outbreak in a neighboring country. Japan has reportedly succeeded in the development of an inhalation-type preventive as well as an avian flu vaccine, called Tami flu, sufficient to treat 30 million people. Korea's can only treat 1.4 million people, way below the 10 million, or 20 percent of its population, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In short, Seoul has a long way to go before properly dealing with this potential pandemic, from preventing to identifying and treating it. This is especially worrisome, as the WHO is warning against the increasing possibility of avian influenza infecting humans as well as the current bird flu sweeping the country has been confirmed as the highly contagious H5N1 strain.
A WHO official said Tuesday, ``If the governments fail to properly control the spread of virus through birds, the chance of human infection still remains and will grow further." Already, 382 people have contracted avian influenza throughout the world since 2003 and 241 have died.
Although it is hoped that no Koreans fell prey to the disease, the first victim of the bird flu may likely come from the poultry industry ― farmers of chickens and ducks or restaurant owners who sell them. Because of massive culling of affected flocks, the industry has already suffered losses of 240 billion won, which will likely rise.
Aside from quarantine efforts, the government needs to prop up the poultry business to prevent any further destruction of the production and distribution system.
Last but not least, it should go all out to dissolve unfounded fears among consumers, which are driving a number of poultry farmers and restaurants to near bankruptcy. Officials need to step up public campaigns directed at the dangers of contact with affected birds, not their consumption, as infection is killed when poultry is cooked at 75 degrees Celsius or higher.
Looking at how the government has handled this problem so far, however, all these orders appear to be too tall.