Bird flu economic impact 'minimal'
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The economic impact of bird flu on Asia is overdone, HSBC says.
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(CNN) -- Fears of an economic slump in Asia because of bird flu are "overdone", analysts at global bank HSBC say in a new report.
The avian flu virus, which has claimed a total 19 lives in Thailand and Vietnam, "certainly does not warrant comparison with SARS", says HSBC.
Thailand, the world's seventh largest poultry producer, will suffer only "modest losses" to its economy due to the H5N1 strain of the avian virus, it says.
A "complete decimation" of Thailand's poultry industry would carve only 1.2 percent off the nation's GDP, says HSBC in its Asian Economic Insight report released Friday.
"Elsewhere in Asia the losses will be much smaller," says the report. "We estimate less than 0.5 percent (of GDP would be lost) even if the poultry industry is "incapacitated for the rest of the year".
HSBC says it is too premature to factor in the effect of the avian virus on its economic forecasts for any Asian nation.
"In Asian economies, the poultry industry is not on the same scale as tourism, which was badly affected last year by SARS," the report says. "Also, the region's authorities are not dealing with an unknown disease, as was the case with SARS.
"SARS was more problematic as it was being transmitted rapidly between humans, making it far more contagious and harder to contain."
The World Health Organization has been investigating whether the H5N1 virus can be transmitted between humans.
So far there is no evidence to show this. Health officials say it appears all the victims caught the flu directly from birds. (Full story)
