Bird flu outbreak can be disastrous

Preparedness for an outbreak is a must

Dr. Turin Chowdhury

In recent days there have been reports that due to suspected bird flu cases in the poultry in Bangladesh the authorities have killed thousands of poultry birds with a view to containing the disease to stop its spread.
   
   Spreading beyond borders
   We know that commonly known Flu is a respiratory illness named Influenza caused by influenza virus. The Bird Flu is the Influenza happening in the birds and caused by strains of influenza virus or Avian Influenza virus. As a part of natural phenomenon these viruses are found in the intestine of wild water birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses, but usually do not get sick from them. They can spread it by their stool, body secretions or contaminating surfaces they sit on. Whenever the virus from the wild birds shift or infect the poultry birds, they are proven fetal to them. As the water wild birds are mainly migratory in nature, in their journey of migration across countries they can easily spread this virus to the local wild bird or local poultry birds. Some more, as this is not possible to close a countries border to migratory birds so the spread of the bird flu is inevitable to some extent if it starts in some region of the world.
   
   Antigenic drift
   Normally bird flu virus did not infect humans. But due to some special characteristics of virus there is always a threat that the virus will become capable of infecting humans. Influenza virus has the ability to change its structure when it replicates to its next generation. This is called self mutation. Flu virus undergoes continuous structural changes regularly. The genetic makeup of influenza viruses allows frequent minor genetic changes, known as antigenic drift. This natural power always raises the chance of a non-human-attacking virus to become modified in such a way that it will become capable of attacking and spreading through humans.
   The bird flu epidemics among the poultry have been around during the last couple of decades. But suddenly it has jumped upon humans. It proves that the virus is mutating and so it characteristics are also changing. Till now there are evidences that the bird flu virus has undergone some changes that have made it capable to infect humans. These human infections have been the type of "bird-to-human infection" type. But till now there is no evidence that the virus has developed the ability to spread from one human to another human.
   Now the main fear is: if these continuous changes go on then it can get the characteristics of spreading from human to human any time. There are reports of cases based on which scientists suspect that the incident of human-to-human transmission has happened, but could not be proven scientifically.
   If in any case the virus can modify to the level to contain this very specific character then we will be wide open in the face of the threat of an epidemic. In this situation another character of virus - high contagiousness - will make the situation worse. Specially flu virus is very contagious and spreads very fast.
   
   Very vulnerable
   In Bangladesh we have all the reasons to be worried about an outbreak of bird flu. Our crowded dense living quarters, malnourished population, lack of cleanliness in personal and collective environment, bad sanitation, lack of education and awareness - all these make our country very vulnerable towards a disease eruption situation. Apart from these issues we do not have a strong effective health care system working in our country. We lack the warning system and the crisis management system in both the angles of a disaster management structure. Some more experts say - sudden load on the health system may cause a break down in it causing a chaos. Un-preparedness for crisis management will make things worse. So there is every possibility that we might be caught off guard by an epidemic.
   
   Preparing for disaster
   In the given circumstances the imperatives right now are to ensure two things. That is -
   1) To have strong backup preparation should something sort of disease epidemic comes up, and
   2) Also trying to educate the people about the situation and prepare to decrease the chances of anything spreading.
   We need the "disease management preparation" approach more right now rather than the "conventional disease prevention" approach. Containing the bird flu epidemic will be difficult if it starts. Some more in general containing virus and the spread of virus are difficult - and we will need obviously an international platform initiative for that and the WHO is on it. But for our country we have to get prepared by ourselves. For Bangladesh, the management plan or approach should have two components.
   * The primary component - the system (in this case the Government).
   * The second component - the disease identification, prevention and organization activity.
   
   What the Government should do
   The government has to prepare actively with a concrete plan to face the epidemic situation with a disease disaster management preparation activity. The Government is the best and in some senses the only institution to take these initiatives. The private sector can be of secondary help. The private health care sector have to understand the importance and use their full utility to create a parallel infrastructure for the facing the disaster. The government will have to take the central role and some measures such as stock piling of medical supply, emergency service preparation, plan a strategy for systematic response, be realistic in identifying priority population, etc. The authority should also keep in mind not to keep the planning activities in papers only; they should arrange some emergency drill to check the preparation.
   
   What people must do
   The second component of the plan should not be the conventional one like only creating awareness and educating people. The priority should be creating a surveillance system for the disease outbreak information. This will have two benefits -
   * We will be able to get the news of out breaks in a certain locality in the minimum time and so will have the maximum time to act against it.
   * The added benefit will be to execute the "creating awareness and educating people" programme by this same surveillance system working chain. Just to mention that this creating awareness and educating people is primary component of the conventional disease prevention activity.
   If given to choose between the two components saying that one can work with only one of the components in the field - than the choice should be the first component - "prepare for disease disaster". These types of works have an indirect messaging benefit, thus promoting awareness creation and health education. We are very curious in nature. As any disaster management activities or drill will go on, the people around it will get the message as they will make quarries from their personal curiosity and the information will spread. But the obvious problem will be that the message will have lots of added particles with it as it will spread. So if the first component activities are very infrequent, then the effectiveness will not be beneficial.
   
   Integrated plan
   We simply can not afford to make different projects or plans to face the crisis situations regarding bird flu, or environmental disaster (cyclone or floods), or man made disasters (terrorist attacks or accidents) separately. It will be a waste of money and time. Though some people (local and international) will benefit personally, but we as a nation and country will be the looser. We should think to set up a effective and proper crisis / disaster management system in our country to face any crisis or disaster which may come to us in the coming days. The government playing a leading and central role will have to prepare and execute multi-sector crisis or disaster management system for all types of threats. And to become successful we need a multi-sector approach for this. We should work to put in place a system which will be effective for bird flu epidemic also.
   The effort right now should be to try to educate the people and have some sort of backup action plan and facility should something come up, and to decrease the chances of anything spreading.

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Singapore Sights

Rayyan Kamal

Last Saturday I went to the Asian Civilizations Museum for a private tour along with my fellow Yalies. I found it slightly strange that the building was constructed to look like something out of Ancient Rome. But perhaps that was completely appropriate since, as I would soon discover, the tour was geared to a non-Asian audience.
   The civilizations covered were those of East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Southwest Asia. Basically, I found out what the five pillars of Islam are and was informed that the Kabah is the most sacred object/space in the religion. Apparently, the three main gods of Hinduism are Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer. I did, however, learn the amusing story of how Ganesh ended up getting an elephant head.
   But all of this disparagement must be tempered by mentioning that the museum, which has won multiple awards for its architecture and lighting, is filled with rare and fascinating artifacts. And I guess I did learn a lot of new history about the civilizations in East and Southeast Asia. I plan to return there on my own some time in the future. Especially appealing to me is the section called "Beauty in Asia," which our tour guide completely neglected.
   The visit to the museum was followed by a trip to Sentosa Island, Singapore's island resort. The weather was postcard-perfect and we lounged on the beach - those who wished to tan reclined on their towels while others played in the water, also probably getting darker. We marveled at the price of the merchandise in the stores. (A pair of beach sandals costs $35.)
   A few of us crossed the bridge to the island that, according to the wooden signpost, is the "southernmost point of the Asian continent." I wonder how this is possible. Don't you have to take Indonesia into account? And in any case, there were definitely landmasses on all four sides of this island.
   We ate dinner at a quaint little restaurant on the beach that, in the span of two hours, didn't play a song that I did not know and like. The food wasn't bad either. We tried to pay a visit to the highly-publicized Musical Fountain where love messages are apparently projected onto a water screen. Unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there. Oh well, we'll just have to go back next week.
   The night was still young when we got back to the apartment, so we decided to go to a nightclub. Having to make the tough decision between Zouk and Ministry of Sound, we ended up opting for the former. Much debauchery ensued, of which I was not a part, at least not for the record. Much fun was had by all.
   Except for maybe one of my American friends, a very nice young chap. He happens to have a weakness for Oriental girls. Unfortunately he succeeded in angering more than one Singaporean guy whose girlfriend he had gotten fresh with.
   Rayyan Kamal is a sophomore at Yale University

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Letters reveal facets of Einstein's life

Saad Quasem

It is a luxury to receive a handwritten letter today. In this age of ICT few people have time to write down their very own words and mail them. Today emails and text messages substitute for letters. These technical innovations make life a piece of cake, yet they make letters a luxurious commodity. A letter is inscribed in the writer's handwriting, adding tinges of personalisation. Courses of literature, history and science have been completed through letters.
   Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet reach the climax, because of a mix up of letters to different parties. Obviously, the chances of such occurrence are very slim in the digital age. Nevertheless, while Pandit Nehru was in jail he wrote letters to his beloved daughter Indira regarding world history that has later been published as "Glimpses of World History." Love letters have been part of history both old and new, as well. In a recent article called "Nehru's Literary Output in Prison," K Z Islam mentions that the lustful letters written by Pandit Nehru to his mistress Lady Edwina has been edited by Rajiv Gandhi.
   On the same note, Albert Einstein's letters have been recently displayed to the public. Relativity shows that the years he spent in trying to verify his theories, his relationship with his family had been tumultuous. The periods of his success were when he seemed like a rather loving person. This genius had separated from his wife Mileva Maric who had moved to Zurich. Einstein had proved the Theory of Relativity in 1905. He spent all of 1915 working on gravity as part of relativity. Einstein worked with his friend, fellow scientist David Hilbert. In November, 1915 Hilbert had written his own paper, which was practically photocopied from Einstein's. Any person would be disappointed, if not frustrated, that the revolutionary science he had shed blood and sweat to exhibit had been plagiarised by the hands of such a trusted figure.
    A raged Einstein wrote to Hilbert that "the system you furnish agrees, as far as I can see, exactly with what I found in the last few weeks and have presented to the Academy." These letters helped Einstein prove himself as the rightful proprietor of his work. Einstein's straightforward yet scathing letter to Hilbert perpetrated him to submit new theories by the end of 1915. Eventually Hilbert gave Einstein full credit for the work he completed.
   During the discourse with Hilbert, Einstein took out his anger on Hilbert, himself. Moreover, he wrote to his son in stone hearted manners. Einstein's 11-year old son Adu wrote to his father, pleading him to make a short trip to Zurich, where they could ski. Einstein wrote back saying "I do not think that a luxury gift costing 70 Francs does not match our modest circumstances." His son's emotions had been set low after that letter. Einstein also refused to visit his family that year for Christmas and he spent his time alone at his Berlin apartment. On Christmas morning, Einstein had found out that Hilbert formed his own equations and with happiness he wrote to his son, promising a visit during Easter and asked him to "practise something to accompany the violin."
   These letters have opened up lots of facets about Einstein's personal life. It had been a well known fact, that he was so engrossed in his work that he failed to love his family. These letters create history and possible new subjects to study in the genres of human interest. Today, letters seem to be a rarity. Emails and text messages, unless printed out, cannot be touched. Hand written letters have a different feel and even look different, unlike emails which look exactly like each other. Einstein said that "great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds." If we had information from the primary source, maybe mediocre minds would think differently.

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Ashok Sharma, AP online

NEW DELHI (AP) - An Indian zoologist said Monday he has found a new species of limbless lizard in a forested area in the country's east. "Preliminary scientific study reveals that the lizard belongs to the genus Sepsophis," said Sushil Kumar Dutta, who led a team of researchers from "Vasundhra," a non-governmental organization, and the North Orissa University.
   The newly found 7-inch long lizard looks like a scaly, small snake, Dutta said. "It prefers to live in a cool retreat, soft soil and below stones."
   "The lizard is new to science and is an important discovery. It is not found anywhere else in the world," Dutta told The Associated Press. He is the head of the zoology department of the North Orissa University in the eastern Indian town of Baripada.
   While modern snakes and lizards are derived from a common evolutionary ancestor, they belong today to two entirely separate groups of animals, or orders. Snakes, over millenia, gradually lost their limbs and developed their characteristic forms of locomotion. But modern limbless lizards are not snakes, Dutta said.
   The lizard was found 10 days ago during a field study in the forested region of Khandadhar near Raurkela in Orissa state, about 625 miles southeast of New Delhi, he said.
   "The new species will be scientifically described at a later stage after accumulation of more data," Dutta said.
   The other limbless lizards belonging to different families have been found in India's Nicobar island, in the northeast, and in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states, he said.
   The closest relatives of the new species are found in Sri Lanka and South Africa, Dutta said.
   However, the species found ten days ago is new to the world, Dutta said.
   Another species of the same genus, "Sepsohis punctatus," was found in 1870 from the Golconda hills in Andhra Pradesh, said Varadi Giri, a scientist at the Bombay Natural History Society, who was not part of the team that found the lizard. Giri said Dutta is a reputed zoologist and his claim appears legitimate. "But for an independent confirmation, one has to wait for the publication of the finding in a reputed science magazine."

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Valerie, disability, CRP and Bangladesh

Nasir-ur-Rahman Sinha

It is a matter of disappointment and frustration on the part of the Salvation for the Deserving (SFD) and we think these concerns not only SFD but also agonises the whole nation on the ingratitude, inhuman behaviour and disgraceful lack of appreciation for a lady who is regarded the pioneer in helping the recovery and rehabilitation of the disabled to earn their own livelihood. Not only that, she is also the pioneer for advocating women's emancipation of Bangladesh. We still believe that Valerie, CRP and Disability are part of Bangladesh.
   It still flashes before my eyes an event in the earlier part of 1990; while visiting Savar I saw a foreign lady sitting with a disabled boy on her lap --- and lady was Ms. Valerie A Taylor. Another person was being treated by another person in a cot. Believe me, it was there in a three-room tin-roofed house where Valerie set up her CRP which had its genesis much earlier.
   Founded on December 11, 1979, it started functioning with four patients in two disused warehouses of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital in Dhaka. In 1981, CRP moved to another location at Shankar, Dhanmondi.
   In 1987, CRP again moved to a 50-bed facility in the Farmgate area of Dhaka. In 1990, CRP moved to a suitable location of 13 acres of land at Savar. Now, CRP-Savar has a 100-bed specialised hospital, which provides treatment for spinal cord injury patients. CRP's multi-disciplinary team cares from the day of admission up until the patient's reintegration into the local community. Members of CRP's multi-disciplinary team include doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, social workers, and counsellors. Other services provided at CRP-Savar include: physiotherapy outpatients, occupational therapy, outpatients, social welfare unit, paediatric unit, metal workshop, wood workshop, special seating, orthotics and prosthetics workshop, and the Madhab Memorial Vocational Training Institute.
   Now here stands a three-storied guesthouse on the eastern side of the entrance, covering 6 acres of land for rehabilitation of the paralysed. Imparting education, training, healthcare etc. to the disabled so that they can earn their livelihood, which she started in this three room here. Besides, she is also arranging a lot for the unfortunate and underprivileged of the country.
   Moreover, Valerie by dint of her determination, self-sacrifice and commitment built CRP at Mirpur, Gonokpara and Savar. For disabled women, she opened a centre at Srimongol, Sylhet. She arranged funds from home and abroad and devoted herself fully on the development of CRP.
   The immediate past Chairman of CRP Trustee Board, Mr Momen informed us much more elaborate things. It is difficult to detail all these in this short article. Valerie also travels throughout the country every now and then working for the cause of the unfortunate people.
   Once I was invited as the guest speaker to inaugurate the Abu Miah Foundation, a centre for the disabled at Rupgonj in Narayangonj district. Surprisingly, the undersigned found Ms. Valerie as one of the guest speakers. Does the present leadership know these facts? It is very easy to talk but very difficult to accomplish a job. She is the lady who has sacrificed her own life for the unfortunate in a foreign country like Bangladesh only for humanity's sake.
   Can we call this justice and accept it? No. She was praised, given nationality of Bangladesh and several prizes with social work and the socio-political organisations for the development of Bangladesh. But now she has been branded as creating indiscipline and what not by only a few members of the present board of trustees of CRP.
   We sense some evil design behind these. We believe Safi Sami, a diplomat, has fallen in the grip of the vested interest and the whole nation stood up against this decision which can be found through different print and electronic media.
   In these circumstances we have no alternative but to request to the present neutral Caretaker Government to take immediate bold step by dissolving the present committee and appointing a new committee keeping Valerie in the position she was holding before and constitute a committee comprising of 70 per cent able and 30 per cent disabled people in the committee. It must not be out of place to mention that the disabled understand the problems of the disabled man better and more than able-bodied persons.
   In this context we believe the most important task of the Chief Adviser's Office that the Chief Adviser should convene a Convention for the disabled. This may be possible by inviting social organisations, NGOs, women's organizations that are led by disabled persons.
   Further, educated and rehabilitated disabled persons may be invited. If this is done it will be a milestone for the disabled and for the Caretaker Government; it will be written in the history of Bangladesh.
   The writer is Chairman, Salvation for the Deserving (SFD).

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