Bird flu breaks out in China

2005-10-25 19:27

Beijing - China was on Tuesday hit with its second outbreak of bird flu in a week, with 2 100 geese and chickens infected in Anhui province as a new action plan to deal with the crisis was released.

According to a Chinese ministry of agriculture report to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the outbreak was detected on October 20 in Liangying village and the area had been sealed off.

So far, 550 birds had died and 44 736 had been culled. State-run Xinhua news agency reported later on Tuesday that the outbreak had been brought under control.

It was the sixth outbreak in China this year and the second in less than a week after the deaths of 2 600 birds and the culling of 91 000 at a farm in the northern Inner Mongolia region.

Laboratory tests

Noureddin Mona, China representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, said Chinese laboratory tests confirmed the latest outbreak was the H5N1 strain of the virus, which had killed more than 60 people in Asia.

He said: "It is the H5N1 strain. The measures that have been taken include sealing off the infected premises and the culling of birds in the infected area.

"They have also applied vaccinations in a three-kilometre radius."

Chinese leaders had warned the country faced a "grave" threat from avian influenza, as both Asia and Europe fight to contain the deadly virus.

New contingency plan

To prevent a disastrous outbreak, China's health and agricultural ministries had intensified their co-ordination and strengthened monitoring around the country, and on Tuesday details of a new contingency plan emerged.

Beijing and other large Chinese cities said on Tuesday that they had stepped up precautions, with the capital setting up sterilisation stations at 27 highway and road entries into the city, checking all poultry transported on trucks.

Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang province, had designated a number of hospitals to monitor flu patients and asked the medical staff to immediately report suspected flu cases.

According to the China Daily, all bird flu outbreaks must be reported to authorities in Beijing within three hours of their detection.

Veterinary departments

This gave city officials two hours to report outbreaks to provincial authorities, who, after confirmation by veterinary departments, must inform the agriculture ministry within the hour.

The plan also outlined drills to be conducted by emergency teams of vets and health workers to ensure they knew how to handle the situation promptly.

Meanwhile, the state forestry administration had set up 118 monitoring stations across the country charged with looking out for sudden, abnormal deaths among migratory birds.

The administration said the period between September and November was considered the most risky as migratory birds were heading south for the winter, potentially contributing to the rapid spread of the dangerous virus.

- AFP