[him] thinks that journalists have been reading and writing too many stories about HIV spreading from Burma to neighbouring countries. Now they are ready to believe anything. Smallpox hasn't been seen in thirty years.

[him] moderator

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No outbreak of small pox in Burma, says India

Syed Ali Mujtaba
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

New Delhi, June 1- The
Government of India has dismissed as a "false alarm" reports of a small
pox outbreak in Burma which triggered a scare in its border areas.

"WHO
has confirmed that these are cases of measles. It has nothing to do
with small pox," Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here on Friday.

The minister said the state governments have been asked to step up surveillance in border areas.

"We have sent a communiqué to state governments to increase surveillance, whatever it may be. We need to
know how many patients, if at all, are affected," he said.

Health Secretary Naresh Dayal said the Ministry of External Affairs had informed them about the reported
outbreak.

"There is no need for panic. It is a false alarm," Dayal said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that there is no outbreak of small pox in Burma, he added.

"The
ministry approached the WHO, which is the only agency that stockpiles
the vaccines, to confirm the news, and they checked with them (the
authorities in Burma) and found the reports to be false," he said.

Minister
of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma said his ministry takes the
advice of the Health Ministry on these issues, but as it was a matter
of concern they sounded an alert.

"Normally
we go by the advice of the Health Ministry on these issues, but if in
our neighbourhood there is any such development which poses concern
then it is a standard exercise to issue an alert," he told reporters.

"That does not mean that some thing has already come and there is any cause for panic," he added.

The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) chief Shiv Lal said they received a communiqué from
the Indian High Commissioner that there has been reports of suspected outbreak of small pox in Burma.

Lal
said immediately after they received the information they swung into
action and the Health Ministry officers held a top level meeting.

"We immediately informed WHO on this aspect. WHO confirmed that the news about outbreak in Burma was
false," he said.

Lal said as the news was found to be false, there was no need to take any action. "Our Rapid Action Team is
always ready if such a situation arises. But now there is no need for us to take any action," he said.

Lal said panic could have been triggered due to health workers confusing measles with small pox.

The last case of small pox was reported in Somalia in 1977.The WHO declared it to be eradicated from the
world in 1979.

The last death from small pox reported in the world was from Birmingham in the UK in 1978 where laboratory
workers contracted the viral when dealing with the virus.

He said vaccination for the virus went out of circulation in the world by 1986.

http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/News/2007/June/02-June-2007.html