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    China confident of curbing bird flu
    (Xinhua)
    Updated: 2004-02-05 21:59

    Chinese Vice-Minister of Agriculture Liu Jian said Thursday that the Chinese government was confident of containing the outbreak of bird flu in the country.

    Liu said at an press conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture China had established complete networks for disease control and animal monitoring, comprising 300 monitoring stations directly under the control of the ministry and 147 disease surveillance points on its borders.


    China's Vice-Minister of Agriculture Liu Jian speaks at a press conference on bird flu in Beijing February 5, 2004. [newsphoto]

    National reference and animal disease diagnostic laboratories have been established at provincial and ministerial levels, and emergency plans and technical standards have been developed for controlling animal diseases.

    With the help of professionals in disease control and public efforts, and based on the experience gained from the fight againstSARS last year, government departments, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) and the State Council, would together win the battle against avian influenza, Liu said.

    The government had urged authorities around the country to continue strengthening their efforts to fight the disease.

    Decisive measures would be taken to quarantine the infected areas, while the culling and safe disposal of all poultry at infected sites and in surrounding areas within a 3-kilometer radius would be carried out, along with compulsory vaccination of poultry in areas within 5 kilometers.

    Liu said preventive and control measures would be taken in non-infected areas, putting the principle focus of prevention and control on areas surrounding infected sites, key production regions, key breeding farms, large-scale poultry farms, specialized large poultry-farming households, large transportationhouseholds, and large processing households.

    Liu also called for rigorous medical monitoring and prevention of bird-to-human transmission, the prevention and control of the avian influenza through enhanced scientific research and public education campaigns.

    He said efforts should be made to intensify disease surveillance. Starting from Feb. 5, the Ministry of Agriculture would launch the new release system to inform the public of the epidemic situation and provide other relevant information.

    China would improve the compensation policy for culls and compulsory immunization and facilitate access to resources such asfunds, vaccines, medicines, equipment and other materials as well as technical measures, Liu said.

    In line with the urgent circulation by the State Council, the heads of local governments would be entirely responsible and liable while following strictly the regulations and they would be held responsible for neglect of their duties.

    The national bird flu prevention headquarters would dispatch five inspection groups to 10 provinces shortly to carry out checksand monitoring work, Liu said.

    More outbreaks confirmed 

    The Ministry of Agriculture Thursday received a report from the National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory confirming the previously suspected outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in East China's Anhui Province and Jiangxi Province.

    The confirmed bird flu cases were found in Guangde County, Yushan District of Ma'anshan City, Jieshou City and Yingzhou District of Fuyang City in Anhui Province and Guixi City in Jiangxi Province.

    Also reported were new suspected bird flu cases -- in Dongxiang County in Jiangxi Province, Shilin County in Yunnan Province, Luoding City and Haifeng County in south China's Guangdong Province.

    The local governments of the above-mentioned areas immediately took quarantine measures and submitted samples to the National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory. The epidemic has been brought undercontrol in these areas and no human infections have been found so far, according to ministry sources.

     
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