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Fresh bird flu outbreak in China
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BEIJING: China reported another outbreak of avian flu in poultry, Croatia confirmed it in wild swans and India tested blood samples from 10 dead migratory birds. Croatia said yesterday tests confirmed the H5N1 bird flu virus in swans found dead last week, taking further into Europe the lethal strain that surfaced in South Korea two years ago and most recently spread west to Turkey, Romania and Russia. Germany and Greece were also testing dead birds. There has been a spate of fresh cases in Asia too, where 62 people have died after close contact with birds, ahead of the northern winter when H5N1 seems to thrive, experts say. Scientists believe migratory birds escaping south are spreading it and governments around the world are nervously monitoring borders and testing |
arriving wild birds. In China's third case of H5N1 since last week, hundreds of chickens and ducks died in a village in central Hunan province. Beijing had notified the UN on Tuesday, according to a notice on the website of the World Organization for Animal Health. China reported another outbreak among farm geese in the eastern province of Anhui on Tuesday and said it, too, had been brought under control with no reported human infections. Gao said the world's most populous nation, where billions of poultry live close to farmers' homes, was monitoring effectively, reporting transparently and had adopted strict quarantine measures. Massive culls of birds in affected areas is one preventative measure. Croatia has now killed at least 27,000 poultry. |
The World Health Organization says H5N1 has so far infected 121 people in four southeast Asian nations, killing one in two. Most catch it by handling sick birds or their droppings. In populous India, officials are trying to find out what killed 10 dead migratory birds in West Bengal state, a state minister said yesterday. "We are not taking any chances and have sent the blood samples for avian flu tests," West Bengal animal resources development minister Anisur Rahaman said. A federal health official said all 29 Indian states had been asked to take blood samples of dead birds found at nesting sites. In Australia, the government said yesterday it has tightened quarantine practices for bird imports, requiring proof that the birds have not been exposed to bird flu. |
If migratory birds are spreading the virus, Africa and the Americas can expect cases. In Thailand, where 13 people have died of bird flu, the government has reactivated a network of almost a million health monitors to try to halt the spread of the disease after new outbreaks in poultry were confirmed in five provinces. As the virus spreads, world governments are refining plans to tackle a pandemic and cope with the huge potential costs in human lives, trade and economic output. Reuters |
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