March 21, 2006

China assures the world its bird flu vaccines are effective

China has refuted allegations from researchers that its bird flu vaccines are ineffective and has caused apparently healthy chickens to harbour the virus instead of killing it.

Jia Youling, chief veterinarian at the Ministry of Agriculture said that tests have proven the effectiveness of the vaccine in use developed by China despite mutation of the bird flu virus. China is watching closely the mutation of the avian flu virus and has kept sieving virus to preserve them as seed virus, Jia said.

He said claims about poultries carrying virus even after being vaccinated was no more than a speculation and had not been verified by any empirical evidence. He declared that a healthy fowl, as long as it is vaccinated effectively, would not carry the virus.

He said China has eradicated all 35 outbreaks in the country after culling nearly 23 million fowls. In total, 194,000 fowls contracted the flu virus.

Chances of an extensive avian flu outbreak this spring would be minimal, thanks to various precautions and control measures, he said.

Currently, nearly 3 billion doses of avian flu vaccine had been distributed across the country. Most places would be ready to vaccinate their backyard poultries when migrant birds fly north in mid-April.

Jia also pointed to the systems in place at the national and grassroots levels to monitor, report and respond quickly to emergencies of animal pandemic. There are 450 testing stations around the country to respond to any bird flu cases and 90 percent of villages have assigned personnel monitoring any potential outbreaks.