Bird flu no threat to Aust: chief medic

Australia's chief medical officer says people shouldn't be worried about reports that a mutant strain of the deadly bird flu virus is spreading across Asia and beyond.
Chris Baggoley, who was officially appointed the nation's top doctor on Tuesday, argues Australia is well served by strict testing and customs regimes.
Avian migration patterns also mean infected birds are highly unlikely to arrive down under.
"I don't think we should be worried," Prof Baggoley told Sky News.
"The country and the Australian government is certainly vigilant in relation to bird flu."
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that a mutant strain of the H5N1 bird flu could be spreading to previously virus-free countries by wild bird migrations.
The variant strain, which has appeared in China and Vietnam, can apparently sidestep the defences provided by existing vaccines.
But Prof Baggoley insists the H5N1 virus remains overwhelmingly a disease of birds and it's very uncommon for humans to catch it.
It is also exceedingly rare for humans to spread it among themselves.
"Australia has a program of testing migratory wild birds to see whether they've got H5N1," the chief medical officer said.
"They've been doing this for quite some years, and there's been no evidence of bird flu in any of those birds."
Australian poultry is also routinely tested, and imports from the Asian region are prohibited, Prof Baggoley said.
Further, even if bird flu did arrive and affected humans, Australia has been preparing for a pandemic since 2004.
"We have laboratories ready to undertake the diagnostic tests that are required, we've got preparations ready for rapid development of a vaccine to protect humans and we have a good supply of antiviral medication," Prof Baggoley said.
Infectious diseases expert Robert Booy says there's no evidence the newly mutated virus can pass between humans more easily.
"There is concern about spread of the new bird flu virus to Korea, Japan, Malaysia and elsewhere in Asia but Australia is not presently on the high alert list," the Sydney University professor said in a statement.
"Australia is quite unlikely to be affected by this new bird flu mutant - the Asian birds don't migrate our way."
There have been no outbreaks of bird flu in Australia to date.
But the virus has infected 565 people worldwide, killing 331, since it first appeared in 2003.
The latest death occurred earlier this month in Cambodia, which has registered eight cases of human infection this year - all of them fatal.
"The general departure from the progressive decline observed in 2004 to 2008 could mean that there will be a flare-up of H5N1 this (northern hemisphere) fall and winter with people unexpectedly finding the virus in their backyard," FAO chief veterinary officer Juan Lubroth said in a statement on Monday.
Australians travelling to southeast Asia are being advised to avoid contact with live chickens.
"They should avoid wet markets ... selling poultry or live birds," the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza's Melbourne-based deputy director Ian Barr told AAP.
The chance of catching bird flu in Asia was low "but not zero", Dr Barr said.