http://www.todayonline.com/articles/140669.asp
China will not be hit hard by bird flu this fall
Tuesday ? September 5, 2006
China does not expect to be hit hard by deadly bird flu despite the cooler weather in the autumn, as mass vaccination efforts will be stepped up, a top agricultural official has revealed.
"If our measures and vaccinations are successfully implemented, I believe the situation will be very good," Li Jinxiang -- deputy director general of the Ministry of Agriculture's veterinary department -- told AFP on Tuesday.
Changes in weather could fuel the spread of the disease as migratory birds, which also carry the virus, begin their migrations and come in contact with poultry.
Li was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference in which ministry officials vowed to continue an ambitious drive to vaccinate all the country's poultry, despite warnings from experts that vaccinations could mask the virus.
"The only way to prevent the spread of bird flu is to step up vaccinations," Zhang Baowen, vice minister of agriculture, told reporters.
China embarked on a vast program to vaccinate its entire stock of poultry -- the largest in the world -- in November 2005 after several outbreaks across the country.
Officials said their aim was to vaccinate almost the entire annual stock of 15 billion poultry this year.
However, vaccinated poultry can still carry the H5N1 bird flu virus and spread it to other birds as well as humans, experts have said.
The World Health Organization has raised concerns that almost none of the human cases of bird flu in China were preceded by reports of outbreaks in poultry.
Chinese officials said it was difficult to explain why this was happening, pointing out that in most human infections, the origin of infection is not known.
They acknowledged China still faced difficulties in controlling the spread of bird flu and detecting outbreaks.
"In some remote and mountainous areas, there are still voids and gaps in vaccination and we still have difficulty in vaccinating the local poultry," Li said.
Close proximity between birds and humans have been blamed for the spread of the virus to people, but it was difficult to change this situation, Zhang said.
The reason is much of China's poultry farming was done in family backyards and farmers were too poor to switch to large-scale, industrialized methods, he said.
China's last outbreak of bird flu among poultry occurred in early August when ducks began dying at a farm in Changsha city, Hunan province in central China.
So far, 21 people in China have contracted bird flu, and 14 of them died, with the most recent fatality occurring in July, according to official figures.
The disease has killed about 140 people, mostly in Asia, since the current outbreak started in 2003. ? AFP
China will not be hit hard by bird flu this fall
Tuesday ? September 5, 2006
China does not expect to be hit hard by deadly bird flu despite the cooler weather in the autumn, as mass vaccination efforts will be stepped up, a top agricultural official has revealed.
"If our measures and vaccinations are successfully implemented, I believe the situation will be very good," Li Jinxiang -- deputy director general of the Ministry of Agriculture's veterinary department -- told AFP on Tuesday.
Changes in weather could fuel the spread of the disease as migratory birds, which also carry the virus, begin their migrations and come in contact with poultry.
Li was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference in which ministry officials vowed to continue an ambitious drive to vaccinate all the country's poultry, despite warnings from experts that vaccinations could mask the virus.
"The only way to prevent the spread of bird flu is to step up vaccinations," Zhang Baowen, vice minister of agriculture, told reporters.
China embarked on a vast program to vaccinate its entire stock of poultry -- the largest in the world -- in November 2005 after several outbreaks across the country.
Officials said their aim was to vaccinate almost the entire annual stock of 15 billion poultry this year.
However, vaccinated poultry can still carry the H5N1 bird flu virus and spread it to other birds as well as humans, experts have said.
The World Health Organization has raised concerns that almost none of the human cases of bird flu in China were preceded by reports of outbreaks in poultry.
Chinese officials said it was difficult to explain why this was happening, pointing out that in most human infections, the origin of infection is not known.
They acknowledged China still faced difficulties in controlling the spread of bird flu and detecting outbreaks.
"In some remote and mountainous areas, there are still voids and gaps in vaccination and we still have difficulty in vaccinating the local poultry," Li said.
Close proximity between birds and humans have been blamed for the spread of the virus to people, but it was difficult to change this situation, Zhang said.
The reason is much of China's poultry farming was done in family backyards and farmers were too poor to switch to large-scale, industrialized methods, he said.
China's last outbreak of bird flu among poultry occurred in early August when ducks began dying at a farm in Changsha city, Hunan province in central China.
So far, 21 people in China have contracted bird flu, and 14 of them died, with the most recent fatality occurring in July, according to official figures.
The disease has killed about 140 people, mostly in Asia, since the current outbreak started in 2003. ? AFP
