Bird flu – an illness not new. It appears, in Kiev at university of a name of Shevchenko in 1962 the chair of virology first in the USSR where the Ukrainian scientists began research of the bird flu which flashes were periodically fixed in different regions of the country was open.
- However further to the robot of our colleagues recognized as unpromising – Candidate of Biology, the associate professor of virology of the Kiev National university of a name Shevchenko Irina Budzanivskaya tells. – Neither then, nor now as the scientist didn’t allow to work with viruses of animals and people. Therefore were engaged in the only vegetative.
And even nowadays, when bird flu in Ukraine already becomes reality, changes nothing. It is more than that, virology chair at the Kiev university are going to close.
- The Ministry of Education plans to unite all eight biological specialties in one – the deputy dean of biological faculty Anatoly Podobaylo tells. – We already and so we prepare virologists microbiologists as from the state qualifier a profession of the virologist withdrew in 1995. Therefore it is necessary to allocate from an educational five-years period somewhere months six that from the biologist of a wide profile to prepare the virologist. It is not enough of it.
It is good that though requirements of the presidential decree About urgent actions for the entering prevention to Ukraine and distributions of high-pathogenic bird flu and minimization of consequences of a possible pandemic of flu are fulfilled. Sanitary control on integrated poultry farms is strengthened, checks on borders became the most thorough, thousands tests of bird’s blood on laboratory researches undertake, the population is warned about danger.
- However one, and quite important threat, didn’t consider – the director of the Kiev ekologo-cultural center Vladimir Boreyko speaks. – Bird flu can come to Ukraine and through hunting for the feathery. Warning against it, we repeatedly addressed to the Ministry of protection of surrounding habitat, in the State Office of Public Prosecutor, Department of veterinary medicine of Minagroprompolitika, but didn’t achieve neither carrying out the state ecological examination, nor orders on hunting opening, its ban.
In one establishments of the address of ecologists simply ignored, in others got off with formal replies or explanations in the manner of that orders of State timber enterprise and Ministry for Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources are developed according to the current legislation, don’t influence negatively a condition of habitat and don’t lead to violation of ecological standards. As to examination, it, say, obligatory only for those kinds of activity and objects which represent the increased ecological danger. Hunting and normative legal acts which regulate it, in the kabminovsky list aren’t specified. Defenders of the nature weren’t helped even by that lawyers from Institute of the state and the right of a name of Koretsky of Academy of Sciences of Ukraine to which they addressed for an explanation, gave the affirmative answer: examination should be carried out. The verdict of lawyers remained on paper, and a hunting season, as well as it was necessary, began on August 13 (the order on it without any examination signed still on March 28 when birds to Ukraine didn’t reach at all). As to a hunting ban, it made, but only on the first of November when the season of migration of the feathery started to come nearer to the end.
- On the territory of Ukraine migratory ways over 200 bird species lie – Anatoly Podobaylo speaks. – About three tens from them are probable carriers of flu. On the vast majority of these types our hunters hunt. So, if izbegnut direct contact to sick or dead birds, the probability of infection of the person is improbable.
But it only in case the virus doesn’t change. If it mutates, can be transferred and to the person. More often it happens with those who directly contacts to birds, looks after them.
- Scientists are inclined to think that the virus of flu of people went from bird’s – Irina Budzanivskaya tells. – It is considered, what exactly feathery messengers of flu, after all from fifteen known types of the replaced superficial proteins of the virus, nine are revealed at birds.
Distribution of the causative agent of flu connect with its biological properties: continuous changes and mutations which serve as the reason of new epidemics, and can lead and to a pandemic.
In the XX century the mankind endured three pandemics: 1918, 1957 and 1968. First, so-called "Spaniard" who took away 50 million human lives was the most terrible. The American scientists established that this pandemic by origin was a bird. That is the virus so mutated that started to strike people.
Nobody guarantees that the such can’t repeat. And though the virus now is hard transferred from bird’s to a human body, in 1997 it revealed at people.
However, then from eighteen struck six were lost only. However nowadays from 120 patients, already died 60. And from the middle of 2003 the mass death of birds that in one, in other region is observed.
Therefore it is so important to be prepared properly by next spring. As birds at warm edges in big concentrations winter: there the most favorable conditions for flu circulation are created. Coming back from warm edges, they will bear with themselves still big threat, than this autumn.
L.Datsyuk.