December 5, 2005

China's Yunnan bans poultry from Vietnam, Laos

China's south-west border province Yunnan has banned the imports of fowls and related products from neighbouring Vietnam and Laos to prevent the spread of bird flu, the Provincial Department of Agriculture said Dec 4.

The province has shut down 75 trading markets in eight prefectures and cities situated in a 1,600-km-long, 30-km-wide area along its borderline with Vietnam and Laos, and installed 98 temporary checkpoints at major roads leading to neighbouring countries.

About 350 monitoring stations for bird flu and 24 monitoring sites for migratory birds have been established, while the province has also in store vaccines enough for 10 million birds.

Like other Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, the provincial capital of Kunming has closed all its bird trading markets.

China has so far reported about 30 outbreaks of bird flu in 11 provinces and regions and confirmed three human cases of bird flu.