Shanghai Daily news
China plans to launch an early warning system to detect and prevent the
spread of bird flu in cases similar to the recent outbreak of the virus in
northwest China, authorities said yesterday.
The network will be based on a wide array of information technologies,
according to an official with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the system¡¯s
developer.
The system will feature a nationwide virus database, epidemic analysis and
information sharing among foreign experts and regular information releases to
the public, according to Ma Juncai, assistant director of the academy¡¯s
Institute of Microbiology.
¡°The system would warn people of an epidemic and help scientists find
solutions to kill the virus as soon as possible,¡± Ma said during the Fifth
Annual Forum on City Informatization in the Asia Pacific Region, held in
Shanghai. Ma and his co-workers are developing the system in eight provinces
including Yunnan and Hunan.
¡°The high-tech system is under construction, but it¡¯s hard to predict
when it will be put into use,¡± Ma said.
China announced last Friday that more than 1,000 migratory birds, mainly
geese and gulls, had died from avian flu in the country¡¯s northwest, mostly in
Qinghai Province.
Bird flu virus has killed at least 37 people in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and
four in Cambodia. ¡°Bird flu is more difficult to control compared with SARS
because it is hard to detect. Its human symptoms are similar to a bad cold,¡± Ma
said.
¡°So it is urgent to establish a warning system in China.¡± During the forum,
officials with the Shanghai Information Technology Development Commission
emphasized that the city will continue to establish e-government and e-commerce
platforms in the next five years.
Meanwhile, Shanghai will develop next generation networks, digital TV, flat
panel display devices and third-generation telecommunications, which represent
the most advanced technologies in the world, according to Liu Jian, a senior
official with the commission. Also at the forum, Alcatel Shanghai Bell promoted
its e-government system, which can integrate fire, police and medical emergency
numbers into a single number. ¡°It can also automatically manage all authorities
to react together (to an emergency) to reduce damage,¡± said Wang Weiguo, an
Alcatel vice president. The three-day information technology forum, which ends
today, has attracted 1,100 government officials and experts from 44 countries
and regions.