Brazzaville, 28 June 2006 -- Fifteen epidemiologists, clinicians and laboratory experts from four Central African countries are participating in a train–the–trainers induction workshop for avian influenza preparedness and response which opened Monday in Brazzaville.

Declaring open the workshop on behalf of the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, the Acting Director of Programme Management, Dr Bokar Toure, underscored the threat posed by the highly pathogenic H5NI virus to Africa’s socio-economic development and the need to take steps to contain outbreaks if, where and when they occur.

Dr Toure implored participants to share the knowledge and skills they will acquire during the four-day workshop with members of the avian flu preparedness and response teams in their various countries.

He noted that the deadly H5N1 virus had already been detected in seven African countries and warned of the public health consequences to Africa and the rest of the world should the virus attain the capacity for human-to-human transmission.

Dr Toure described the confirmation of human case of the virus in Egypt and Djibouti as a real public health threat to Africa, and stressed the necessity for clear strategies for containment at the national, regional and international levels.

Participants are drawn from Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo.

For more information contact:

Technical contact 

Dr Adamou Yada

Tel : + 47 241 38264 

E-mai : yadaa [at] whoafr.org

Media contact

Samuel Ajibola 

Tel: + 47 241 39378

E-mail: ajibolas [at] afro.who.int