January 28, 2004

 

 

China Confirms Bird Flu In Ducks

 

China confirmed the presence of bird flu in dead ducks at a southern farm on Tuesday. However, the authorities were quick to stress that the virus has not been found in humans.

 

Authorities also said two other provinces in central China had "suspect" cases of dead poultry believed to be bird flu.

 

The official Xinhua News Agency's urgent dispatch was the first official confirmation by the government that avian influenza has surfaced in China during the current outbreak that has killed eight people and forced the slaughter of millions of birds in other parts of Asia.

 

"Local governments have made necessary measures of slaughter or quarantine to prevent a spread," Xinhua said.

 

"No people have been found infected so far and the epidemic has been in control."

 

The duck farm is located in Dingdang, a town in Long'an County in southern China's Guangxi region. Though region borders Vietnam and has been the site of increased scrutiny of poultry in recent days, the town is roughly 100 kilometers from the border.

 

Roy Wadia, a spokesman for the World Health Organization in Beijing, said China's Health Ministry had informed the U.N. agency of the bird flu cases. "There are no cases known in people so far," he added.

 

Bob Dietz, a WHO spokesman in Hanoi, said that, because Guangxi borders Vietnam, it "wouldn't be surprising" that bird flu could travel across the border.

 

"We're seeing it in other countries in southeast Asia," Dietz said. "There's no reason to assume China would be immune."

 

Xinhua also said reports of bird deaths in a "chicken-raising household" in the central province of Hubei and a "duck-raising household" in the nearby province of Hunan had been diagnosed as "suspect" bird flu. It emphasized that those diagnoses were preliminary.

 

China's openly aggressive campaign to combat the disease starkly contrasts with the government's initial secretive response last year to the SARS outbreak. Severe acute respiratory syndrome killed 349 people on the mainland before retreating in June.