László Bujdosó, head of the State Public Health Office (ÁNTSZ) claims they had signalled their demand to the firm which has a monopoly of manufacturing this medicine and they promised a delivery within days but later they stated in a letter they could provide the necessary amount only by the end of 2005 as their capacities had been already contracted. Anyhow the money allotted seems to be not enough as it turned out that the vaccine is qualified not as a medical product so it has a V.A.T of 25 pc instead of 5 pc. László Bujdosó said the preparations went well and the vaccine would be tested soon on man. He said public health officers and veterinarians of the European Union would harmonize their efforts soon and Hungary would propose to vaccinate poultry to prevent the spread of the disease. WHO has called on the world recently to get prepared for a pandemics as it is just a question of time that the infection can reach all the regions of the world. Since 2003 the death toll of the epidemic was 63 in South-East Asia but there are new cases reported almost daily. Avian influenza was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago. Migratory waterfowl spread the disease easily and domestic poultry are particularly susceptible to the rapidly fatal influenza. The first infection of humans with an avian influenza virus occurred in Hong Kong in 1997.
Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó
Kijev ukránbarát önkéntes mozgalomnak nevezi a Tisza pártot
