February 23, 2004

China Bird Flu Under Control

China declared the bird flu outbreak in the country contained following no reports of new cases for six consecutive days.

The announcement came as the government lifted its quarantine of a village where the nation's first confirmed case of the disease was reported, allowing the 24 residents to step out for the first time in 20 days, state media reported.

The eight households on the outskirts of Dingdang, a town in south China's Guangxi region, were quarantined after ducks there died of bird flu, state television said.

Since that first case was confirmed, bird flu has appeared in poultry in 16 of China's 31 regions, prompting authorities to slaughter sick fowl and monitor farmers for flu symptoms.

As quarantines are lifted on other affected villages in coming days, China expects its epidemic "to turn from high incidence to gradual control," citing the Ministry of Agriculture.

China has reported no cases of bird flu in humans. But the World Health Organization has expressed concern that the country might have human cases the government doesn't know about.

"There's always the potential that the sporadic human case might not be picked up by surveillance systems," said Roy Wadia, WHO spokesman in Beijing. "As far as we're concerned, we're still advising the authorities to be on high alert."

After quarantine measures are lifted, affected farms must still wait six months before raising poultry again.

It said local officials should remain vigilant against bird flu, since the virus can live in bird droppings for as long as three months.

Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan have also been hit with the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian influenza, prompting authorities to kill more than 80 million chickens and other fowl.

The virus has killed 22 people in Vietnam and Thailand, the only countries where it is known to have jumped to humans. Pakistan and Taiwan have reported a milder subtype of the illness.