Hey i don't want to start a flame war but seriously what are
they upto?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_he_me/china_bird_flu
China Turns to WHO for Bird Flu Help
By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer
Sun Nov 6, 8:42 AM ET
BEIJING - China said Sunday it had asked the World Health
Organization to help it determine whether the death of a
12-year-old girl last month was caused by bird flu. If it is
confirmed, it would be China's first known human death from the
lethal and virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has
killed at least 62 people across Southeast
Asia.
There have been four outbreaks of the bird flu among poultry in
China in the past three weeks.
Three people living in central China's Hunan province came down
with pneumonia from unknown causes last month following an outbreak
of the H5N1 strain among local poultry, the official Xinhua News
Agency reported.
The girl, He Yin, died three days after developing a high fever on
Oct. 13. She had had "close contact with sick birds," Xinhua said.
Her 9-year-old brother was also hospitalized with similar symptoms
but recovered.
The third victim was a 36-year-old middle school teacher who
reportedly cut raw chicken while he had a minor injury on his hand
and later fell ill, Xinhua said. He was identified only by his
surname, Song.
All three lived in or near Wantang, a village where the government
says 545 chickens and ducks died of bird flu last month.
Chinese officials initially said the girl and her brother had
tested negative for the bird flu virus.
However on Sunday, Xinhua reported that experts "cannot rule out
the possibility of human transmission of H5N1 bird flu. The
specific cause needs further laboratory tests."
Roy Wadia, a spokesman for the WHO in Beijing, confirmed that China
had asked the organization for help last week.
"This is a reiteration of how much of a public health threat bird
flu really is," said Wadia. "Sometimes it takes a human case or a
suspected human case to raise the alarm, to remind us that no
country, whether China or anywhere else, can afford to be
complacent."
Xinhua said China has asked the WHO for help in testing the blood
and throat swabs from the three victims.
Since late 2003, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has ravaged poultry
stocks and jumped from birds to humans. Most of the human deaths
have been linked to close contact with infected birds. But experts
fear the virus could mutate into a form easily passed among humans
and possibly spark a worldwide pandemic.
China, which was heavily criticized during the 2003 outbreak of
severe acute respiratory syndrome for initially covering up the
illness, has pledged it will be more open about reporting on bird
flu.
Wadia said he did not think China had delayed its announcement of
the suspected cases but that instead it was trying to be thorough
before going public.
"I think the information they have shared with us has been shared
as soon as they can corroborate it," he said.
Also Sunday, 1,700 officials and 100 police finished culling about
370,000 birds in northern China's Liaoning province after bird flu
killed 8,940 chickens there.
The outbreak in Liaoning's Badaohao village, east of Beijing, was
China's fourth reported outbreak in three weeks.
State television news on Sunday showed dozens of officials in white
face masks and blue protective suits spraying disinfectant on empty
poultry cages and the wheels of vehicles.
Xinhua said late Saturday that Badaohai lies along a route used by
migratory birds heading from East Asia to Australia, contributing
to fears that wild birds could spread the disease.
More than 20 magpies and other migratory birds had been spotted in
the area, it said.
Chinese authorities have said they are concerned wild birds might
spread the virus, particularly following an outbreak last spring
that killed more than 6,000 migratory geese and gulls at
northwestern China's Qinghai Lake.
The State Forestry Bureau said last month it was activating a
reporting network to detect outbreaks among wild birds.
New regulations went into effect in Beijing on Sunday that allow
detention for up to 15 days and fines of up to 200 yuan ($25) for
anyone who fails to immunize their birds, the Beijing Morning Post
reported.
The rules, announced jointly by the Beijing Agricultural Bureau and
the Beijing Public Security Bureau, are aimed at ensuring a 100
percent bird vaccination rate in the capital, the newspaper
said.
can human beings rest without the fear of bird flu, sars killer
viruses diseases all kinds of weird fetishes foods dogs pigs tiger
penises from one particular community? are the human beings asking
for too much from that community?
nobody deserves to die of these weird diseases.
