(No.01/04)February 1, 2004

1. Bird flu cases confirmed in two central China provinces
2. China on Bird Flu Alert, No Human Infection Found
3. China Reports Two New Suspected Bird Flu Cases
4. All poultry markets in bird flu-hit area ordered to close down
5. National Bird Flu Prevention Headquarters Founded
6. Chinese Leaders Urge Vigilance on Bird Flu 

Bird flu cases confirmed in two central China provinces

   The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture on Friday received a report from the National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory, confirming that bird flu cases have occurred in Wuxue city of Hubei province and Wugang city of Hunan province,both in central China.

    Since the epidemic was spotted, local governments enforced sweeping poultry culling and prompt quarantine measures. To date, the epidemic situation in the two places has been well controlled,said the report.

    Meanwhile, the report shows that suspected bird flu cases were spotted in Guangde county and Ma'anshan city of east China's Anhui province, Nanhui district of Shanghai municipality and Jiedong county of southern China's Guangdong province.

    Poultry slaughter and quarantine measures have been taken in those areas and the suspected avian influenza-hit poultry have been delivered to relevant organizations for medical monitoring. The epidemic situation in those areas is under control and no infections in human beings have been found.

    Inspection teams, jointly dispatched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Public Health and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, have gone to the bird flu-affected areas in an effort to inspect the local prevention and control work.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Public Health have reported those new suspected cases to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the relevant departments in Hong Kong and Macao. (www.chinaview.cn 2004-01-31)

China on Bird Flu Alert, No Human Infection Found
 
As previously suspected bird flu cases in two central provinces were confirmed and new suspected cases reported in three other Chinese regions Friday, an increasing number of Chinese localities are taking measures to handle the deadly disease.

President Hu Jintao, on state visit to Egypt, said on Saturday that people's health should be the top priority in the current efforts to prevent and control bird flu, now hitting several provinces in central and south China. 

He said: "We have full confidence in tackling the problem and in preventing the disease from spreading to other areas. We must do our utmost to do a good prevention work and prevent human infection."

Up to early Saturday morning, 1,306,500 poultry within 3 kilometres of the confirmed bird flu-hit area in Wugang City of central China's Hunan Province have been killed and no new suspected or confirmed cases reported in the affected region.

Local quarantine departments also destroyed 22,000 pieces of poultry eggs and sealed up 12.1 tons of poultry eggs. The above poultry and poultry-related products were disinfected and buried deeply underground.

At present, quarantine workers are vaccinating poultry within 5 kilometres of the affected farm and disinfecting the nearby areas including rivers.

In response to the confirmed bird flu cases in Wuxue City of central China's Hubei Province, the provincial capital city of Wuhan has started a comprehensive program to safeguard the city against the highly infectious H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Over 7.3 million poultry in Wuhan have been vaccinated and local poultry farms, poultry marketplaces, supermarkets and slaughterhouses disinfected. The local government also banned purchase of poultry and related products from affected regions and demanded careful recording of poultry deals such as commodity sources and quarantine certificates.

Inspection results of local industry and commerce departments show no suspected bird flu cases have been found in Wuhan and poultry deals remain normal.

In fact, not only regions, where confirmed and suspected bird flu cases have been reported, and nearby localities are highly alert against the disease, regions far away from the bird flu-hit localities also take precautions against the animal-sourced disease.

So far, confirmed bird flu cases were found in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and central China's Hunan and Hubei provinces. Shanghai, east China's Anhui Province and south China's Guangdong Province reported suspected outbreaks. (China Daily February 1, 2004)

China Reports Two New Suspected Bird Flu Cases
 
China Saturday reported two new suspected bird flu cases in central China's Hubei Province and south China's Guangdong Province, said sources with the Ministry of Agriculture.

The ministry received reports Saturday, saying two suspected bird flu cases have occurred in Ezhou City of Hubei and Chao'an County of Guangdong, following three confirmed cases and three suspected outbreaks on the Chinese mainland.

The local governments forced sweeping slaughter and quarantine measures immediately and sent in related samples to the Harbin-based National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory. The epidemic has been brought under control, said sources with the ministry. No human infections have been found in the two regions.

The ministry has dispatched supervision teams to help the local governments fight against the bird flu epidemic. The two outbreaks have been reported to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Hong Kong and Macao have also been informed of the new epidemic.
(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2004)

All poultry markets in bird flu-hit area ordered to close down

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Saturday issued a notice, urging the closing of poultry markets and the banning of poultry trade in the bird flu-affected area in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region where the country's first bird flu case was spotted.

The notice requires its subordinate body in Guangxi region to strictly crack down on illegal poultry trade in the bird flu-hit areas and intensify the market patrol at the juncture areas between virus-hit areas and virus-unaffected areas in an effort to prevent and control the bird flu virus from spreading.

The notice also urged the closing of poultry markets whose sanitation conditions are poor in bird flu-unaffected areas.

If any suspected bird flu cases were spotted in markets, they must be reported to local governments and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said the notice. (Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2004)
 

National Bird Flu Prevention Headquarters Founded
 
The State Council on Friday decided to establish the National Bird Flu Prevention Headquarters in an effort to intensify the prevention and control work on bird flu.
 
Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu was appointed director-general of the headquarters, and State Councilor Hua Jianmin was appointed deputy director-general.

The headquarters consists of the State Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs.

The headquarters office was located in the Ministry of Agriculture.
(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2004)

Leaders Urge Vigilance on Bird Flu
 
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have stressed that prevention and control work against bird flu should be conducted effectively based on scientific knowledge and in line with the law, following the confirmation of China's first bird flu cases on Tuesday.

They asked local governments to maintain a high alert against the deadly virus and strengthen monitoring of the H5N1 strain of bird flu after the cases were confirmed in Dingdang Town, Long'an County in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

If cases of bird flu are spotted, all the infected poultry must be slaughtered and the affected areas must be sanitized to prevent further spread, they stressed.

They said that local governments should keep the virus within the polluted region and prevent it from spreading to humans to ensure the safety of people.

Local governments across the country have made painstaking efforts to carry out these measures in a coordinated manner to prevent and control bird flu.

Besides stepping up efforts to prevent an outbreak in the nation, China is ready to cooperate with other countries to address the current crisis, Chinese Vice Minister of Agriculture Qi Jingfa said in Bangkok yesterday.

"We are now closely watching the development of the disease, studying on origin of the disease and banning export and import of poultry products from all regions affected by the epidemic," said Qi at an regional ministerial meeting on the current poultry disease situation.

The Ministry of Agriculture has made a national plan to prevent the disease and briefed the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) of the situation, he added. China informed the FAO and WHO of its bird flu epidemic on Tuesday, the day the deadly virus was confirmed.

Soon afterwards, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Health held emergency meetings with FAO officer-in-charge in China Robert Brown and WHO representative in China Henk Bekedam, respectively, notifying them of the latest developments of the epidemic in the country and the measures that had been taken.
After listening to the agriculture ministry's report on the epidemic and the measures the Chinese government had taken in accordance with the country's Law on Animal Epidemic Prevention, Brown thanked the ministry for the timely reporting of the disease and the measures, expressing confidence in China's capability in preventing the epidemic from further spreading.

He said the FAO gave high attention to the development of bird flu in Asia, including China, and stands ready to give China its full support.

After listening to the health ministry's report, Bekedam said China's timely notification demonstrates the Chinese government's openness and transparency in treating the epidemic.

He said China's fight against SARS last year has left the international community with a deep impression, and he believed the Chinese government would do even better now in dealing with the bird flu.

Although the disease has not spread to humans, Bekedam said efforts should be enhanced in containing its transmission from poultry to humans. He pledged the willingness of the WHO to help China in preventing and treating the disease and to further step up the two sides' cooperation.

The ministries of agriculture and health thanked the two international organizations for their support to the Chinese government, and expressed hopes to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with relevant international organizations in preventing and treating the bird flu.

In Beijing, the slaughter of poultry in market places and selling uninspected meat and poultry products were banned yesterday, an emergency effort by the local government to safeguard the capital from the bird flu virus.

Liu Jian, vice director of Beijing Municipal Industry and Commerce Bureau, also announced tighter controls and inspection of poultry products entering Beijing from other regions of the country. (Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2004)