As the Chinese government intensifies its efforts to curb the spread of bird flu, veterinary inspectors have warned of the possible risks of fake or low-quality vaccines.

Feng Zhongwu, deputy-director with the China Inspection Institute of Veterinary Pharmaceuticals, said Tuesday that effective measures must be taken to stop phony veterinary medicines from coming into the rural markets.

"Fakes must be prohibited," said Feng.

In Xinle city of north China's Hebei Province, chicken farmer Zhang Jianxin lost many of his flock after using a cheap vaccine that he bought from an unlicensed dealer in January. Last week, Hebei police arrested the dealer and manufacturer, Li Zhongqi, a farmer from central China's Henan Province who once studied at an animal husbandry college and began selling fake veterinary drugs in 2001.

Li Kailun, chief scientist of the Hebei avian influenza prevention group, said the fake vaccine was likely to cause serious problems.

He explained how genuine vaccines were prepared with a weakened or dead pathogen, such as a bacterium or virus, which would stimulate antibody production, but were incapable of causing severe infection.

Therefore, the pathogen content must be accurately calculated to guarantee quality and safety. If the content was lower than the standard amount, the vaccination would be ineffective and too much pathogen would harm the birds, Li said.

The Statue of Veterinary Drug Management issued by the State Council in 1988 stipulates that manufacturers or dealers must have "permission and a license from an agricultural or animal husbandry authority at county level or higher" if they want to handle drugs for animal use. In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture promulgated the Regulation on Biological Produce for Animal Use requiring the purchase and distribution of animal vaccines to be organized by government departments in charge of veterinary epidemic prevention.

"Obviously, private manufacturing and selling are illegal," said Yuan Janjun, senior official with the Jiangxi Administration of Industry and Commerce.

Yuan's job is to inspect and stop illicit operations in the market. Last week, he investigated a fake vaccine case in Jiangxi's Taihe county, famous for its "black chicken".

"We heard reports saying that a veterinary store in that county was selling fakes and immediately went there and seized all the fake medicines," he said.

These cases also raised a response from China's government. Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu, also director-general of the National Avian Influenza Prevention Headquarters, instructed ministries to rigorously crack down on illicit operations.

Soon, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce issued an emergency notice requiring local departments to block transactions of fake vaccine. "The focus is on the regions around the affected areas and rural countryside and it's particularly important to uncover the hidden manufacturers and dealers," the notice said.

Analysts say fake drugs may harm poultry, affect farmers' incomes and distort the market. The bogus medicines are likely to undermine the ongoing campaign against bird flu unless they are quickly eradicated in the country.

The government has ordered the slaughter of all poultry within 3 km of affected sites after the first outbreak on Jan. 27. Poultry within 5 km must be vaccinated, at the government's expense. The cost of vaccinations in other areas will be shared by the government and farmers.

After the first outbreak at the Dingdang township in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the local government took emergency measures, including slaughtering and vaccination, said Bi Qiang, Guangxi's senior official in charge of treating bird flu. The vaccines came from the Harbin Veterinary Institute, an officially authorized manufacturer, and were of good quality, he said.

"The vaccines used here are safe and free for affected farmers," Bi said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2004)