Chief Veterinary Officer Jia Youling, also director of the
Ministry of Agriculture's Veterinary Bureau, spoke at a State
Council Information Office press conference about bird flu on
Friday afternoon.
Jia said that since autumn there have been one outbreak of H5N1
subtype avian influenza in Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, one in Anhui
Province and one in Hunan
Province, as confirmed by the National Avian Influenza
Reference Laboratory (NAIRL).
The outbreak in Inner Mongolia took place in Tengjiaying
Village, Bayan Town, Saihan District of Hohhot. 2,600 chickens and
ducks were affected and died, 91,100 domestic birds culled and
destroyed. It was confirmed as H5N1 by the NAIRL on October 19.
The outbreak in Anhui was in the village of Liangying, Bianyi
Township of Tianchang City, with 550 geese affected and killed,
44,736 poultry culled and destroyed. It was confirmed as H5N1 by
the NAIRL on October 24.
The outbreak in Hunan occurred in the village of Wantang, Shefu
Township of Xiangtan County. 545 chickens and ducks were infected
and died, 2,487 poultry culled and destroyed. It was confirmed by
the NAIRL as H5N1 on October 25.
Upon the detection of each outbreak the Ministry of Agriculture
(MOA) immediately assigned task forces to each village to steer
control efforts, notified health authorities and made timely
announcements to the public through media, Jia said.
?
He said governments at all levels in affected areas were fully
committed to and followed the National Contingency Plan on the
Outbreak of Animal Epidemics, the National HPAI Contingency Plan as
well as national and MOA regulations. Control measures were taken
promptly, with affected areas sealed off, poultry and poultry
products banned from being shipped out and people and vehicles
restricted from coming in. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius
of affected areas were killed and disposed of safely by burning and
landfill.
At the same time, compensation was delivered to poultry farmers,
and poultry houses, cages, surrounding areas, paths and people or
vehicles coming in or out were completely disinfected. 290,000
domestic birds were vaccinated in areas under threat in the three
provinces, and the vaccination effort was enlarged to?include
6,962,000 animals.
Jia said that at present all three outbreaks had been declared
stamped out and no new cases found. According to the Ministry of
Health, there have been no reports of human infection.?
Jia said the movement of migratory birds still poses a serious
threat as three out of eight world migration routes go through
China. These routes involve many provinces and during migration
there is intensive contact with local poultry that could lead to
infection and outbreaks.
China also has a large poultry population of 14.232 billion,
accounting for 20.83 percent of the world total. Of these, 3.735
billion are waterfowl, accounting for 76 percent of the world
total. Waterfowl have shown comparatively high rates of being
infected by and spreading the disease.
In addition, most poultry farms in China are family farms with
basic and unsanitary conditions, posing difficulties for disease
control.
Prevention and control is all important in dealing with any
human infections, said Chen Xianyi, director of the Ministry of
Health's Emergency Response Department.
"The health ministry will immediately initiate emergency
mechanisms to find suspected cases early through monitoring people
at high risk once infections are found in animals," Chen said.
"Meanwhile, the health and agriculture ministries will exchange
information and act together."
Patients suspected of bird flu infection will be quickly
monitored and diagnosed, and those confirmed will receive timely
treatment, Chen said, adding that measures will also be taken to
prevent infections spreading.
(China.org.cn October 28, 2005)