|
New bird flu outbreak in China reined in
(AFP/China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-26 05:41
Bird flu outbreak in Anhui reined in
A new outbreak of bird flu has been brought under control in East China's
Anhui Province, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.
In the second case of the fatal avian influenza confirmed within a week in
the country, 550 chicken and geese at farms in Liangying Village, Tianchang,
died. The virus killed 2,600 fowls in northern Inner Mongolia last week.
"The epidemic has been stamped out, and no new outbreak spots have been
found," the ministry said in a statement. "Anhui implemented a chain of
emergency control measures."
The ministry did not specify the source of the outbreak.
Wei Jianzhong, vice-director of the Animal Husbandry and Aquaculture
Institute of the Anhui Agricultural University, said he believed contact with
migratory birds and wild waterfowl was a probable cause.
In the outbreak, first detected last Tuesday, 2,100 fowls fell ill and about
a quarter died.
The National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed the case as the
deadly H5 subtype avian influenza virus, according to Jia Youling, director of
the ministry's Veterinary Bureau.
The report has been sent to the World Organization for Animal Health, the
United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, and to Hong Kong and Macao
authorities, Jia said.
Like in previous outbreaks, the ministry sent a team to Anhui to help local
authorities with control and prevention efforts.
Following China's animal epidemic prevention statutes, local authorities
culled nearly 45,000 birds within a 3-kilometre radius of the outbreak site.
|
