A new batch of avian flu virus samples from China will be
delivered to international laboratories designated by the World
Health Organization (WHO) within the next few weeks.
The consignment, as agreed between the Chinese government and
the WHO at the end of 2005, will consist of 20 samples, much more
than the five samples delivered in 2004.
The announcement was made by Shigeru Omi, regional director of
WHO Western Pacific, during a two-day conference in Beijing. "China
has done a very, very good job," Omi said.
According to Julie Hall, coordinator of Communicable Disease
Surveillance and Response at the WHO Beijing office, regular
sharing of information among countries, the global health body and
other international organizations is an effective weapon against
the virus, which is fast mutating.
Such sharing of information is vital for research, including
developing a vaccine against a possible pandemic.
Because there have been regular outbreaks among poultry as well
as human infections in China, samples, laboratory results and
knowledge of field practices would be useful for the rest of the
world, she added.
The scheduled delivery, however, will contain only virus samples
from bird flu outbreaks in poultry, as was the case in 2004. All
samples of the avian flu virus are kept under tight surveillance at
the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory in Harbin,
capital of
Heilongjiang Province in northeast China.
Mao Qun'an, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, told
China Daily that China had provided two virus samples from
human infections in December 2005, after the cases were first
reported in October.
(China Daily March 24, 2006)