January 5, 2006

Migratory birds likely cause of China's latest bird flu outbreak

Migratory birds are suspected as the cause of China's latest bird flu outbreak in Dazhu county, in south-west China's Sichuan province, a local veterinary official said Jan 4.

Sichuan Provincial Department of Health's Su Lin said that while no bird flu has been reported in other parts of Sichuan or neighbouring Chongqing municipality, Dazhu is where migratory birds such as white cranes stop before flying southwards for the winter from northern China.

Although most migratory birds from the north have left Sichuan for the south, some remain and will not leave until the Spring Festival, which starts on January 29, said the chief of the department's Emergency Response Office.

There are no reported human infection cases in Dazhu, Su added, with blood tests of all 16 people in close contact with dead poultry indicating negative.

In the meantime, the country's Ministry of Agriculture had sent an expert team to Dazhu to help in control efforts; the county itself will be put under quarantine for a minimum of 21 days, as according with China's animal epidemic prevention regulations, announced Chief Veterinary Officer Jia Youling in Beijing Jan 4.

Dazhu county is about 400 kilometres east of the provincial capital Chengdu.