A SENIOR medical officer has urged all doctors to participate in preparations and surveillance against a possible outbreak of bird flu and to provide information about the disease to the public.

Dr Kyaw Nyunt Sein, the director of Disease Control at the Department of Health, said doctors needed to be prepared to respond to and manage any outbreak, partly because this would ensure they could provide appropriate advice to the public.

“Timely decision making and appropriate, immediate interventions are crucial for an effective response,” said Dr Kyaw Nyunt Sein.

He was speaking at a symposium on bird flu organised by the Myanmar Medical Association and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., at the association’s headquarters on November 19. Dr Kyaw Nyunt Sein said all doctors should also be prepared for the possibility of a bird flu pandemic, which would occur if the virus began being transmitted between humans.

The disease, which has killed more than 60 people throughout East Asia, has so far been transmitted from birds to humans. No cases of bird flu have been reported in Myanmar.

Dr Kyaw Nyunt Sein said all private and public medical officers should be on alert for the emergence of clusters of patients with influenza symptoms. He said health professionals in the public and private sectors should immediately report any unusual clusters of respiratory diseases to the Ministry of Health.