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China battles to curb bird flu
11/11/2005 10:54 - (SA)
Cindy Sui
Beijing - China was battling to contain the spread of bird flu in northeast Liaoning province on Friday after reporting three outbreaks there in 24 hours and a fourth suspected human infection.
The agriculture ministry said on Thursday 300 chickens had died of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in Beining city, adding to two other nearby outbreaks in Liaoning.
Four outbreaks have now been confirmed in the province since November 3, and seven across the country since last month.
The government said this week the situation in Liaoning was not under control and warned of a potential disaster there.
Chicken farmer in stable condition
The provincial health and agricultural departments said on Friday a female chicken farmer from Heishan county, the location of the first outbreak in Liaoning, was being investigated for bird flu.
The woman, identified by her surname Liu, came down with severe pneumonia after contact with sick birds. Her condition has stabilised and her temperature returned to normal.
Liu initially tested negative for bird flu but it will take two more weeks for antibody tests to be fully diagnosed.
Liu was among 121 people from Heishan county who had close contact with the sick poultry and were taken to the hospital after displaying fever or flu-like symptoms. Bird flu has been ruled out in all the other cases.
Although no human cases of bird flu have been confirmed in China, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will this weekend begin testing samples from three people - one of whom has died - suspected of having caught the virus in central Hunan province last month.
Wild animals blamed
The latest outbreak, the agriculture ministry said, was first discovered on November 6 and confirmed to be bird flu on Thursday.
In a report it submitted to the World Organisation for Animal Health, the ministry blamed the outbreak on "wild animals". It has blamed migratory birds as the cause of the previous outbreaks in China.
However, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FOA) Beijing office, Noureddin Mona, said he could not rule out the latest outbreak being caused by the previous outbreaks spreading, especially due to their close proximity.
In an effort to control the spread of the virus, about 2.5 million chickens have been destroyed in Liaoning.
Agriculture minister Du Qingling warned this week the bird flu crisis in Liaoning risked turning into a "disaster", mainly due to the unscrupulous use of sub-standard and fake poultry vaccines.
- AFP
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