Jia Youling, National Chief Veterinary Officer, said that as at
December 13, no new suspected case of Highly Pathogenic Avian
Influenza (HPAI) had been reported in China for 15 consecutive
days, and quarantine has been lifted in 23 previously affected
areas.
"We are fully capable of effectively containing the spread of
bird flu in China," he said at a press conference in Beijing on
Wednesday.
In 2005, 30 cases of HPAI outbreaks were confirmed in China,
including one case of migratory bird infection in northwest Qinghai
Province. Since October, 26 cases of bird flu have been confirmed
in nine provinces and autonomous regions.
Jia, director of the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of
Agriculture, said an active vaccination policy has been implemented
on the mainland, and all domesticated birds will be vaccinated
gradually.
"The national average poultry vaccination intensity is above 80
percent, and efforts are ongoing to vaccinate the remaining birds,"
he said.
According to statistics, 6.85 billion domestic birds have been
vaccinated this year, with more than 5 billion vaccinated since
October.
China will provide the vaccine for all domestic birds and
small-scale poultry raisers will be given the vaccine free of
charge early next year.
"The newly developed vaccine against "Newcastle" disease and
avian influenza can be easily deployed through sprinkling,
drinking, with eye drops and various other means," Jia said.
"It can significantly reduce the labor and the risk involved,"
he said.
It will also be very cheap as its production cost is only one
fifth of those currently available on the market, Jia said.
Jia refuted reports that China concealed the extent of the
pandemic.
"We didn't find any bird flu virus in the three areas where the
human cases of bird flu were reported, which is quite common in the
other parts of the world," Jia said.
Citing Hong Kong as an example, he said the bird flu virus was
found in only three of the eight cases of human bird flu infections
in 1997.
Related stories:
Ministry:
Pathogenic Microbe Labs Must Operate Under Government
Supervision
Timely
Measures Keep Bird Flu out of Border with Vietnam
(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2005)
