S. Korea to import bird flu vaccine to avert pandemic

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to import a vaccine to help the country avert a potential pandemic of the fatal bird flu, the government said Tuesday.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a
parliamentary audit session that while there is only 800 million won (US$664,000)
set aside to import the vaccines, measures are being taken to buy and stockpile
the medicine.
"The government is considering a move to directly import the pre-pandemic
vaccines from overseas manufacturers," said KCDC director Lee Jong-koo.
He said that besides the funds that will be used to import the drugs, 2.0 billion
won has been set aside to develop a vaccine domestically.
Pre-pandemic vaccines are drugs that help the immune system fight against
outbreaks like the H5N1 strain of bird flu that caused 241 deaths in 14 countries
worldwide as of early this year. H5N1 is hazardous since it is spread through the
air, with humans having almost no defense against it.
Health experts said that if a worldwide outbreak were to occur, it could be fatal
for many people since it takes months for scientists and companies to manufacture
pandemic vaccines on a massive scale.
The World Health Organization said more than 380 cases of the bird flu have been
confirmed in humans so far.
South Korea, meanwhile, was hit by the bird flu in the winters of 2003-2004,
2006-2007 and early this year.
No South Korean has contracted the disease yet, but the latest outbreak has
resulted in damages exceeding 250 billion won, as the government culled millions
of chickens and ducks.
Earlier in the year, GlaxoSmithKline said it won authorization to market its
pre-pandemic vaccine in the European Union.