Poor surveillance led to human infections
(China Daily/AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-11 05:44

One of the most urgent tasks is to improve the ability of health authorities to monitor developments at the grassroots level, according to Mao.

In each of China's tens of thousands of villages, qualified people will be picked and charged with monitoring and reporting the epidemics situation.

"We need to do this before a possible mutation of bird flu," he said.

Complacency warned against

Mao warned the people against complacency in the fight against bird flu.

"We cannot lower our guard in the slightest degree against the risk of bird flu triggering a new epidemic," Mao said.

"As long as there are still outbreaks among animals, as the health authority we cannot say bird flu is already past its peak."

In particular he warned against the nightmare scenario of bird flu starting to spread from human to human, rather than the current transmission pattern from bird to human.

"Even though we haven't yet detected cases of spread among humans, we can't ignore the potential threat," he said.

China has the world's biggest poultry population, combined with often primitive farming conditions where humans and animals live in close proximity.

The bird flu virus has killed more than 70 people throughout Asia since 2003, the majority of them in Vietnam.

European nations and world health experts are currently also on higher alert after Turkey reported 13 people had been infected with the disease, including two who have already died.