July 13, 2005

China blocks bird flu test kit

A leading Hong Kong scientist said that China has blocked approval of a new bird flu test kit that could quickly detect bird flu, or H5N1 virus, in both birds and humans.

The test reportedly required only a short training session before usage, and could detect the H5N1 virus in birds in under an hour, compared with existing tests that took up to four days.

Guan Yi, one of the world's top researchers into H5N1, added that the Chinese government wanted to keep everything under control without any competition, thus the exclusivity.

The Chinese government was not immediately available for comment on this issue.