The bird flu epidemic has been brought under effective control
in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the most afflicted area in
China, a local official said yesterday.
Zepu County, one of the affected areas in the region with nine
reported poultry outbreaks since November 15, has been lifted out
of epidemic isolation, the Ministry of Agriculture said last
night.
"All the infections have been capped within the outbreak sites
and not spread further," Xing Qinghua, a spokesman for Xinjiang's
animal husbandry department, told China Daily.
"In line with pertaining statutes, experts have been sent to the
sites to check whether it is time to lift some of the
closures."
A few sites will be freed of bird flu constraints in the near
future, he said without specifying.
Xinjiang reported only one case of fatal bird flu last year, but
has accounted for almost one-third of China's total outbreaks so
far this year.
"With its vast area, Xinjiang shares a boundary line more than
5,600 kilometers long with eight countries, so the epidemic
situation is complicated," Xing said. "In addition, migratory birds
traverse large swathes of land, increasing the likelihood of
infecting poultry."
He conceded that the region has felt the pressures of preventing
and controlling the epidemic.
Three of the nine outbreaks occurred in or around Urumqi, the
regional capital, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
In the latest outbreak reported in the region last Wednesday,
300 fowls died on November 24 in Xinyuan County. The ministry
confirmed the poultry deaths were caused by the virulent H5N1
strain of bird flu.
Veterinary workers culled more than 118,000 poultry within a
3-kilometre radius as a precaution.
"We are now engaged in a campaign of vaccinating all kinds of
poultry in the region," Xing said, citing initial statistics as
saying 80 percent of the poultry population have already been given
"effective" doses.
All the vaccines in use were produced by State-designated
companies and apportioned by the Ministry of Agriculture. A record
was logged for each inoculated bird, he said.
"Thanks to effective immunization, the epidemic situation in
Xinjiang has become stable," the spokesman said.
Xing's department has yet to calculate the losses the contagion
has caused the domestic fowl industry.
"In line with State Council stipulations, the autonomous region
is implementing preferential policies and strengthening publicity
to relieve public panic over bird flu, and promote normal
consumption of poultry products," he said.
In a related development, Yunnan Province in southwest China has
banned the entry of fowl and related products from neighboring Viet
Nam and Laos amid efforts to prevent the spread of bird flu, local
authorities said on Sunday.
The province has outlined a 1,600-kilometer-long,
30-kilometer-wide defense zone along its borderline with the two
countries, according to a Xinhua report.
In Guiyang, capital of the neighboring Guizhou Province,
residents were required to suspend bird trading and disinfect
birdcages regularly to help prevent bird flu, local authorities
said.
Out of the same consideration, Central China's Hunan Province
announced on Sunday it had cancelled a birdwatching festival on
Dongting Lake, an annual festival held since 2002.
So far, China has reported at least 30 outbreaks of bird flu in
11 provinces and regions and confirmed three human cases.
(China Daily December 6, 2005)