Local authorities across China stepped up its fight against
avian influenza after three reported outbreaks and the death of a
girl who suffered pneumonia-like symptoms in a bird flu-hit area
earlier this month.
Increased surveillance on migratory birds has become a priority
in many areas and local officials are setting up checkpoints to
keep questionable poultry away from markets.
In Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a
pigeon race was cancelled for fear that the birds might transmit
the virus even though an organizer said homing pigeons could not
fly as far as Inner Mongolia, Anhui or Hunan where outbreaks were
reported.
In Shanghai, medical staff are being trained to handle bird
flu-related emergencies; vaccine research has become a key focus;
and emergency materials such as disinfectant and protective gear
are being stockpiled.
In Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, health workers
are distributing brochures that explain the differences between
regular flu and bird flu, and give tips on hygiene.
The Hong Kong government will conduct a drill next month to
prepare itself for any flu outbreak. Chief Executive Donald Tsang
will participate in the drill with residential communities and
hospitals, Xinhua News Agency reported.
On Sunday, leaflets with information on the avian flu were
distributed? in the Causeway Bay, Central, and Tsim Sha Tsui
areas as part of the SAR government's publicity and awareness
efforts.
The leaflets, entitled What You Should Know about Avian
Flu, came in two versions -- one printed in Chinese and
English, and the other in Thai, Indonesian, Nepali, Hindi and
Urdu.
While in Sham Shui Po, an area with hundreds of crows, the
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department started culling
birds to reduce the risk of an outbreak.
To date, the H5N1 virus has not been detected in Hong Kong.
In southwest China's Yunnan Province, seven hospitals and two
laboratories have been designated to monitor possible bird flu
outbreaks in the province, an official said in Yunnan on
Sunday.
The surveillance work will mainly target people who have raised,
sold, slaughtered or processed sick or dead poultry, those who have
given medical treatment to sick or dead poultry, those who have
killed and handled sick or dead poultry without proper protective
measures, those who have come into contact with the excrement of
sick or dead poultry, and those who live in an environment polluted
by the excrement of poultry.
People who have lived with patients suspected of or confirmed to
have had contact with the flu or bird flu viruses, taken care of
patients or come into contact with any secretions, excrement and
body fluids of patients will also be put under surveillance.
Surveillance results will be reported to the provincial disease
prevention and control center on a daily basis.
When a bird flu case is reported, the seven hospitals will
provide medical help to those living within a radius of three
kilometers from the epidemic center.
All data of the surveillance will be put into an online
information system, according to the center.
The two bird flu monitoring labs will be established in the
provincial disease prevention and control center and the disease
prevention and control center of the Hani-Yi Autonomous Prefecture
of Honghe.
The labs will be responsible for separating and identifying the
flu virus.
Chinese Health Minister Gao
Qiang said at a ministerial-level international meeting in
Canada earlier this week that China had set up 192 flu monitoring
stations nationwide. The ministry will send doctors and experts to
assess the health of local people if a monitoring station reports
evidence of a bird flu outbreak.
Yunnan shares a border with Vietnam, which has reported
expansive bird flu outbreaks. In an attempt to calm the situation,
experts in the province have called on the local people not to
over-react or panic.
The three bird flu-stricken areas in central China's Hunan
Province, East China's Anhui Province and the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region of north China remain closed to outsiders.
Health authorities had confirmed the death of a 12-year-old girl
this month in Hunan after she ate a disease-stricken chicken and
contracted pneumonia.
The Ministry of Health reported the girl's death to the World
Health Organization on Friday evening.
Tamiflu production
Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG reiterated yesterday that it
is looking for external producers for its Tamiflu drug, amid
skyrocketing demand and concerns about a possible pandemic.
"We are currently assessing which organizations and countries
have the ability to supplement our own capability," Roche Chairman
Franz Humer said at the 17th International Business Leaders'
Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai held in Shanghai,
according to a Reuters report.
Demand has soared in recent weeks for Tamiflu, an antiviral drug
approved for use as a treatment but not a cure for seasonal flu,
amid mounting concerns of a potential flu pandemic that could be
caused by the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Countries, companies and individuals have been stockpiling the
prescription drug, prompting Roche to suspend deliveries in the
United States last week to prevent a buying glut by consumers and
companies.
The spike in demand led Roche to say it would enter into
discussions with other companies, primarily makers of generic or
copycat drugs, and with governments in developing countries as to
whether or not they can help produce the drug in part or as a
whole.
The company also previously said it would not let patents stand
in the way of getting Tamiflu to patients in case of a
pandemic.
Some countries, such as Argentina, have said they will produce
their own version of Tamiflu.
Humer said the decision whether or not countries should
stockpile the drug was up to individual governments.
"Countries need to make up their own minds what they intend to
do," he said.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2005)