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Two more bird flu outbreaks reported
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-20 21:46
BEIJING, November 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinses Ministry of Agriculture Sunday
confirmed bird flu outbreaks in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region and central China's Hubei Province.
It noted in a statement that a total of 176 chickens, ducks and geese died
Tuesday in the banner (or county) of Morin Dawa in Inner Mongolia before they
were confirmed by a state avian flu lab as H5N1 subtype highly pathogenic bird
flu cases.
Separately, the same kind of bird flu killed 3,500 geese Wednesday at a
development zone in Shishou City of Hubei Province.
The Ministry of Agriculture has sent a team of experts to help contain the
disease, and local veterinary departments have culled the poultry near the
affected area, the statement said.
China on Friday reported two new outbreaks of bird flu among its vast poultry
flocks as it released dozens of farmers and villagers from medical observation
with clean bills of health.
The latest poultry outbreaks were hundreds of miles apart — in the northern
province of Shanxi and the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, the Xinhua News
Agency said. All poultry on nearby farms were killed as a precaution.
China has reported 15 outbreaks of bird flu in poultry since Oct. 19 and has
promised tough control measures to prevent human infections.
The country confirmed its first human cases of bird flu on Wednesday — a
woman who died and a boy who recovered. The boy's sister, who died, is a
suspected case. But dozens of people who had contact with the three patients
showed no signs of the disease, Xinhua said.
At least 67 people in Asia have died of bird flu since 2003, when the
virulent H5N1 strain became entrenched in poultry populations. Vietnam has
reported two-thirds of the human deaths.
China's central and provincial governments have been trumpeting their
prevention and surveillance measures while state media has given wide play to
the disease and official efforts to combat it.
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