Warning of disease risk from wild animals
The warning was given by international experts who attended a seminar
on the situation of emerging diseases and wild animals in Vietnam , in
Hanoi on March 15.
The seminar was jointly held by the
Wildlife Conservation Society in Vietnam , the US Agency for
International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development.
Recent reports showed that 75 percent
of infectious diseases in humans originated from animals, the experts
said, adding that Southeast Asia is a hot spot of emerging disease
outbreak.
Director of USAID Vietnam Francis Donovan said
people throughout the world have a better understanding of the
connection between human health, animal health and the environment,
adding that Vietnam is one of the pioneers in applying the “One-Health”
approach to develop policies in preparation for pandemics.
Since
the transmission of such pandemics as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) or bird flu caused serious impacts on public health and economic
development, it is necessary to raise capacity to discover and cope
with dangerous diseases, the USAID Director said./.