China steps up prevention efforts after new bird flu outbreak
19/9/2007 17:27
China's Ministry of Agriculture will send 12 teams to Chinese localities
to supervise the prevention and control of bird flu after a recent outbreak in
China's southern Guangdong Province.
China is preparing itself for the autumn
season when major animal-related diseases are frequently reported, and for risks
from the frequent poultry trade across the country before the two major
festivals, mid-autumn day and National Day.
The disease prevention and
control is still under great pressure in China, as disease has continued to
attack adjacent countries, said Vice Minister Yin Chengjie.
Yin has urged
supervision teams to examine the vaccination efforts in local areas. The
supervision team will also check the disease-prevention measures on poultry
farms.
A new outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in south China's Guangzhou in
early September, which killed 9,830 ducks.
The outbreak was confirmed as a
sub-type of H5N1 bird flu by the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory
and the government has culled 36,130 fowls and plans to cull 10,000 more in the
infected region.
China has reported a total of 25 human cases of bird flu
since 2003, which have resulted in 16 deaths.
Xinhua
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