President Peter presented a Paul Harris Fellowship to Rtn Suzanne.  Also, it was the induction day of our new member, Ms Jessica Li.  Her classification is “insurance company manager”. Members welcomed her to the club.

PP Nick Pirie reported that the Peninsula Hotel had donated used bedding and other material and we will transport this to Johannesburg in South Africa for people in need.  IPP Bernie and CP Dennis had very kindly donated the transport cost.  The Rotary Club of HK had donated HK$5,000 to the Leprosy Project and Rotary Club of Island West also will donate HK$5,000.

Our speaker today was Dr. Derek Spielman, a colleague of our member Rtn Suzanne.  His topic was entitled “The ecology of wild birds and virulent avian influenza”.  According to Derek, avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. All birds are thought to be susceptible to infection with avian influenza, though some species are more resistant to infection than others. Infection causes a wide spectrum of symptoms in birds, ranging from mild illness to a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease resulting in severe epidemics. Fifteen subtypes of influenza virus are known to infect birds, thus providing an extensive reservoir of influenza viruses potentially circulating in bird populations.

To date, all outbreaks of the highly pathogenic form have been caused by influenza A viruses of subtypes H5 and H7. Avian influenza viruses usually only infect birds and pigs. The first case of human infection with an avian influenza virus occurred in Hong Kong in 1997, when the H5N1 strain caused severe respiratory disease in human beings and the death of one-third of those affected. 

In 2003-2004, the spread of disease to some Asia countries, like Thailand, Vietnam and Japan, might have been caused by poultry smuggling.  One of the controls of the outbreak is to apply vaccination to people at high risk and then avoid contact with birds.  To allay public concern, Ocean Park had closed its bird exhibits during the outbreak. Vaccination of poultry had been shown to be good for prevention. Governments generally need to put more effort into the control of avian flu.