China 'can bring bird flu under control'
27/10/2005 - 07:20:50China said today that it is taking effective measures to prevent the spread of bird flu and keep it from infecting people as the world’s most populous nation reported three outbreaks of the disease in a week.
Premier Wen Jiabao said there has been “massive culling of domestic poultry” and strict quarantines imposed to stop the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted him as saying. Local residents have also been vaccinated.
“China definitely can bring the bird flu under control through the above measures,” Wen said on the sidelines of a meeting in Moscow.
It was the first comment by the country’s leadership since chickens, ducks and geese found in the northern Inner Mongolia region, Anhui province in the east and central Hunan province were confirmed to have died from the disease.
Bird flu has killed more than 60 people and resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of chickens in Asia since surfacing in 2003.
Health authorities fear that it could mutate into a form that can be passed from human to human sparking a global flu pandemic, possibly killing millions of people who have little or no resistance to the virulent H5N1 strain.
There have been no reports of confirmed human cases in China. But Hong Kong newspapers reported today that a girl from a bird flu affected village in China died from flu-like symptoms on October 15.
He Yin, 12, and her 10-year-old brother from Wantang village in Hunan province, came down with high fever and flu-like symptoms on October 13 after eating a sick chicken, the Ming Pao Daily said.
Also yesterday, authorities on the French island of La Reunion were examining three possible human cases of bird flu among tourists who recently visited a bird park in Thailand.
A 43-year-old man was hospitalised with a fever and strong headaches on Saturday, three days after returning to the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion from a week-long holiday in Thailand, said Helene Monard, a French Health Ministry spokeswoman.
Nineteen others who also took the same trip were questioned about their health. Among them, two had flu symptoms and Monard said their preliminary tests also were positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.
“Although the symptoms are not very significant, there is thus a suspicion of flu of avian origin in the framework of a close contact with birds,” the French Health Ministry said in a statement.
Bird flu is difficult to diagnose properly in preliminary tests, and false positives are not uncommon.
International health and disaster control officials met at conferences in Ottowa, Canada and in Copenhagen, Denmark this week to discuss ways of preventing or containing a possible human outbreaks of the disease, as countries around the world began strengthening their controls on domestic and wild birds.
Germany yesterday ordered that all poultry be given only tap water to drink in addition to being kept indoors in efforts to prevent them from coming into contact with infected migratory birds.
Preliminary tests on wild geese found dead in Germany had come back positive for bird flu – though they had died of poisoning – and further tests were being carried out to see if they carried H5N1.
The lethal H5N1 strain of the disease has already been detected in birds in Romania, Russia and Turkey – and most recently Croatia – raising fears it could spread across Europe.
Slovenia and Hungary were also testing birds found dead for signs of bird flu, underscoring the sensitivity of the issue even though officials have urged Europeans not to panic.
India’s government has stepped up its observation of bird populations and plans to stockpile anti-viral medicines, but the country faces no immediate bird flu threat, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said Wednesday.
The government would be talking to Swiss company Roche, which makes the influenza drug Tamiflu, and to Indian companies that could make generic copies in a bid to build up a stock of at least 1 million courses of the drug.
His comments came amid reports that 290 migratory birds had died in a sanctuary in eastern India, but officials said tests conducted on 111 birds there showed no sign of bird flu.
Indonesia vowed to step up its fight against bird flu today, saying veterinary students would join international health experts in carrying out house-to-house searches for infected backyard chickens.
UN Food and Agriculture experts will train the students, who will be recruited from four major universities, to identify sick birds and alert villagers to the risks of the disease, said Syamsul Bahri, the Ministry of Agriculture’s director of animal health.
Details about the campaign – including the number of volunteers, health experts, equipment and funds needed – will be hammered out during a two-day veterinary meeting that opens tomorrow in the city of Bogor, officials said.
Joseph Domenech, the FAO’s chief veterinary officer, said many people in Indonesia seem to be unaware of the risks.
“There still seems to be a lack of awareness in the rural and suburban communities about the threat the virus poses to humans and animals,” he said in a statement earlier this week announcing plans for house-to-house searches.
After sick birds are identified, the FAO will decide with Indonesian authorities on control measures such as slaughtering or vaccination, he said.
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