The death toll from the pig-borne endemic in southwest China's
Sichuan
Province had reached 36 by Monday noon, with two new deaths
reported since the previous day, according to the Ministry of
Health yesterday.
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Although no new infections were reported, 17 more people who had
already contracted the disease were identified since midday on
Sunday. Of them, 14 were confirmed and 3 suspected, said the
ministry.
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The province has so far reported 198 human cases of Streptococcus
suis II infections, 145 of which have been confirmed and 53
suspected.
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Eighteen people have been discharged from hospital and 30 others
are in critical condition.
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The first person thought to have been infected was hospitalized in
late June and cases have since been reported in nine cities of
Sichuan. These include Ziyang, Jianyang, Neijiang and the
provincial capital Chengdu, but the other affected areas were not
disclosed. The authorities have stated that all patients had direct
contact with ill or dead pigs.??
Two other cases have been reported in the south of the country
in the last few weeks, one each in Guangdong
Province and Hong Kong, but whether they are related to the
Sichuan outbreak is not yet clear.
The Guangdong patient, diagnosed in Chao'an County on July 27,
was released from hospital over the weekend and the one in Hong
Kong, hospitalized on June 16, is in a stable condition.
Lin Shaorong, professor at South China Agricultural University,
said the situation in Guangdong is likely to remain under control
because it has had a long history of outbreaks of similar strains,
so there is much experience of dealing with them.
The WHO said yesterday that the authorities have been diligent
in supplying information on the situation through daily
updates.
Hong Kong health representatives disputed speculation by some
WHO officials that the outbreak may have been caused by a
combination of bacteria and toxins, and said the 30 Sichuan cases
examined are a large enough sample to draw conclusions from.
Extensive information from field investigations has been posted
on the Chinese version of the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention's website.
In a related development, the Chinese Academy of Inspection and
Quarantine (CAIQ) announced yesterday it has developed a testing
method for pig infections.
"Compared with current testing methods, which take up to four
days and sometimes fail to detect the bacteria, the new technique
can find all strains of Streptococcus suis in a pig in four hours,"
said the CAIQ's Han Xueqing, adding that it can also differentiate
between strains.
Wang Daning, CAIQ president, said he expected the technique to
be employed by all quarantine branches nationwide over the next
week and that it could be used to ensure meat sent to markets is
free from infection.
The CAIQ is a rapid-response task force under the General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine.
(Xinhua News Agency , China Daily August 2, 2005)
