November 16, 2005

China's Liaoning vaccinates hundreds of millions of birds

A Chinese province that has suffered four bird flu outbreaks in the past month has vaccinated all of its 320 million chickens, ducks and other poultry in a massive effort to stop the virus, provincial officials said Wednesday.

Liaoning province in the north-east, which has suffered four outbreaks, ordered all farm birds vaccinated early this month, said Fu Jingwu, deputy director of the provincial Animal Health Supervision and Management Bureau.

"All the poultry that's supposed to be vaccinated has been vaccinated - 320 million birds," Fu said.

The province has destroyed more than 10 million chickens, ducks and other birds in an effort to contain the outbreaks.

On Wednesday, Chinese authorities took a group of reporters on a tour of one area hit by the virus, in an effort to reassure the public by showing off disease-control measures.

The virus could be contained through careful use of vaccinations, disinfection and management of poultry, said Shao Chuanming, director of the provincial animal health bureau's Animal Disease Control Department.

A key issue is minimising contact between poultry and wild migratory birds, which were believed to carry the virus, Shao said.

"Obviously there's no way we can kill all the migratory birds," he said. "But as long as we can sever the links of transmission between migratory birds, poultry and people, then the controls are effective."