Four more cases of a pig-borne endemic were reported in southwest
China's
Sichuan
Province?by Friday noon, but no death was reported,
according to the Chinese Ministry of Health.
With 11 patients discharged from hospital on Friday, 134 people
are still in hospital for medical treatment and 14 of them are in
critical condition, the ministry said.?
By Thursday, a total of 644 pigs had been killed in the endemic
of swine streptococosis in Sichuan, with three new deaths reported,
the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday.
??
Thanks to the joint effort made by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China, the State Council and relevant
departments at all levels, the number of pigs killed daily has been
decreasing, the ministry said.
??
The endemic has been controlled effectively, the ministry
said.
??
The endemic broke out in late June, first in Ziyang and
Neijiang, and later spread to ten cities, including Jianyang and
Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, the country's No.1 pig
production base.
??
Local departments have taken forceful quarantine measures to
avoid further human infection, ordering rural people not to
slaughter, sell or eat any pigs killed by the disease. Some
compensation has been given to farmers that have buried dead pigs
according to the governmental requirement.
??
In addition, Hong Kong Director of Health Lam Ping-yan said on
Friday that the chances of an outbreak of "pig fever" in Hong Kong
are slim.
??
Lam said there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission in
the Sichuan Streptococcus suis ("pig fever") outbreak, according to
the feedback provided by Hong Kong experts helping investigate the
outbreak.
??
However, as they can only provide an account of what they have
witnessed so far, investigations are ongoing and could lead to a
different conclusion.
??
Lam said the government will monitor the situation closely even
though chances are low of an outbreak in Hong Kong.
Center for Health Protection specialist Chuang Shuk-kwan, who
took part in the investigations, said all the evidence collected so
far showed the infections were caused by Streptococcus suis.
??
She said most patients developed symptoms after having close
contact with pigs and early use of appropriate antibiotics can
effectively treat the disease.?
(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2005)