China has new bird flu vaccine
2005-02-07 11:59
Beijing - China has developed a more powerful, longer-lasting bird flu vaccine for poultry, a news report said on Monday.
Scientists made the vaccine using a genetically-altered bird flu virus, the official China Daily newspaper reported.
The new vaccine protects chickens for 10 months - four months longer than existing vaccines - ducks for 10 months and geese for three months, the report said.
Farms in China, where bird flu is considered endemic, already vaccinate their flocks regularly.
When outbreaks occur, the government culls all poultry within 3km of an affected farm and vaccinates poultry within 5km.
China reported its last bird flu outbreak in July, although the disease has since re-emerged in neighbouring Vietnam.
- AP