Borders may shut if the bird flu spreads
29/10/2005 8:43
Xinhua/Shanghai Daily news
If a human is
infected with the bird flu in China, the country will decide whether or not to
close its borders in line with World Health Organization regulations and
international practices, a health official said yesterday.
Speaking at a news
conference in Beijing yesterday afternoon, Chen Xianyi, director of the Health
Ministry's contingency office, said no humans have been infected with the H5N1
strain of the bird flu virus on the Chinese mainland to date.
He also said
bird flu outbreaks in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Hunan and Anhui
provinces have been brought under control.
"As to whether we will close our
borders, this will be decided in line with international practices and the
relevant rules and regulations of the WHO," said Chen.
He added that if a
case of human infection is found, he or she will be immediately put into
quarantine and under medical observation while treatment is carried out so as to
protect other people.
Earlier, Chinese officials ruled out bird flu in the
death of a 12-year-old girl in Hunan Province.
"The people who have had close
contact with the two patients afflicted with pneumonia in bird flu-hit Hunan
have developed no abnormal symptoms," said Chen.
Meanwhile, China has stepped
up its efforts to prevent and control bird flu epidemics.
"Prevention and
control of bird flu outbreaks is of chief importance," said Jia Youling, China's
chief veterinary officer. "If we fail to do that well, then sooner or later
there will be transmission from birds to humans."
The central government has
set up a task force led by Vice Premier Hui Liangyu to oversee the fight against
bird flu and has dispatched experts to investigate dozens of tips about possible
outbreaks, Jia said.
China has also launched a large-scale vaccination
program on poultry, he said.
"Not all poultry in China have been vaccinated,
but in key areas, poultry have received vaccination. Poultry vaccinated have the
capability to resist the infection of bird flu," Jia said.
According to Jia,
China's 5.2 billion chickens, ducks and other farm birds account for 29 percent
of the world's poultry.
He said China has already developed a series of
vaccines, including inactivated vaccine against H5N2 AI, in a bid to control the
fatal bird flu.
The application of these vaccines has effectively reduced the
cost of immunization and satisfied the need of various poultry, Jia noted.
He
added that newly developed recombined Newcastle Disease vector live vaccine
against AI is now being industrialized.
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