More bird flu in Liaoning, WHO joins probe in Hunan
11/11/2005 8:04
Shanghai Daily news
The Health Ministry
yesterday confirmed bird flu outbreaks in another four townships in Liaoning
Province, a day after two cases were confirmed at two chicken farms in the
northeastern province.
No human cases have been confirmed in China, but three
pneumonia cases are being investigated in a bird flu outbreak area in Hunan
Province.
In Liaoning, about 100 chickens have died in four townships of
Beining city, under Jinzhou jurisdiction, the ministry said yesterday.
A
Beining chicken farmer reported the fowl deaths on Sunday to the provincial
animal health authority.
On Tuesday, the authority confirmed the deaths
resulted from an H5N1 outbreak and sent samples to the state bird flu
lab.
Yesterday, the state lab confirmed it to be bird flu.
Authorities
have culled more than 250,000 poultry within 3 kilometers of the outbreak areas
in Beining.
Late on Wednesday, China confirmed bird flu cases at two villages
in Liaoning, in addition to the cases reported late last week in Heishan County,
Jinzhou.
The two cases occurred at family poultry farms in Chaoyangsi Village
of Daban Township in Fuxin Mongolia Autonomous County, Fuxin City, and the
Daling Village in suburban Jinzhou City.
At least 1,100 chickens had died at
the two farms, and authorities slaughtered half a million birds in the
areas.
In another development, World Health Organization experts will join
Chinese scientists to probe three possible human cases of bird flu in central
China, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a WHO spokesman.
"We will send a
team of experts to Hunan Province sometime next week," WHO spokesman Roy Wadia
said yesterday in Beijing.
Meantime, China's own human bird flu vaccine is
awaiting results and approval following a clinical test, a health official said
yesterday.
Preclinical experiments of the vaccine, which started in May 2004,
have ended. A new clinical test will be carried out as soon as the State Food
and Drug Administration approves it, said Wang Yu, director of the Chinese
Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Concerning the Hunan bird flu
outbreak, WHO experts and Chinese colleagues will take more samples from
patients and determine how WHO can help the Chinese
government.
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