UN Says Bird Flu Vaccine Production Too Slow

11 October 2005 --The United Nations' main expert on bird flu today warned that vaccine production must be speeded up considerably in order to protect the world from avian influenza if it mutates and starts to spread through the human population.

At present, six months are needed to build up an adequate stock of vaccines.

Doctor David Nabarro, the UN coordinator for a global drive to prevent the spread of avian and human influenza, told a press conference in Rome that ways of developing vaccines must be found in less than six months.

Nabarro said the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) was looking at options for scaling up vaccine production and was holding talks to that effect with pharmaceutical companies.

(dpa)

See also:

WHO Official Talks About Transmission, Treatment Of Avian Flu

International Conference Aims For Coordinated Response To Bird Flu