Posted on: Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Avian disease no threat to Hawai'i yet

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer

State health officials are paying close attention to recent cases of a lethal bird flu in Asia but have no reason to suspect that the illness poses a serious threat in Hawai'i at this time.

State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Effler said the cases reported so far involve people who contracted the disease from live infected birds and not from eating chicken.

He said the disease would be much more worrisome if people were getting the disease from eating infected chickens in Asia. "You would imagine there would be a lot more cases," Effler said. "The available evidence does not give us reason to panic."