With more bird flu reports cropping up, the nation has moved
quickly to step up measures to contain the spread of the virus.
New suspected cases were reported Sunday in the city of
Yongkang, in Zhejiang Province; Yichang, in Hubei; Chenggong
County, Yunnan; Pingyu County, Henan Province; and a division of
the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp in the Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region.
On Saturday Ezhou of Hubei Province and Chao'an County of
Guangdong Province also reported the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said China's window of
opportunity to stop the spread of the disease is narrowing, though
there have been no human cases.
It has been almost a week since the first confirmed the presence
of H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, in poultry in South China's
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Such cases were also reported in
Hunan and Anhui provinces.
So far, there are no known human cases of H5N1 avian influenza
in China, said Ministry of Health spokesman Mao Qun'an.
A report Sunday of a possible human case in Shanghai was
discounted by China's Ministry of Health, said the WHO's Beijing
office Sunday.
President Hu Jintao, on a state visit to Egypt, said on Saturday
China has full confidence in its ability to tackle the problem and
in preventing the disease from spreading.
The Chinese mainland has been culling poultry within 3
kilometres of infected farms and vaccinating poultry within 5
kilometres.
Measures also include a ban on exports of poultry and poultry
products from affected areas, closure of poultry markets and
strengthening quarantine requirements of the residents from
affected areas.
The State Council has established a National Bird Flu Prevention
Headquarters in an effort to intensify prevention and control work
on bird flu, and Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu was appointed
director-general of the headquarters.
However, with more outbreaks reported daily, the mainland's
window of opportunity to contain the spread appears to be getting
smaller, said WHO spokesman Roy Wadia.
The greater the number of cases, the bigger the challenge,
especially given the mainland's size and the geographical spread of
poultry populations.
One of China's main weapons against the influenza spread is
speed.
When the disease breaks in a new place, culling poultry,
isolation and quarantines are quickly imposed, said Mao Qun'an of
the Ministry of Health.
Still, the WHO has raised concerns over the environmental impact
of the bird culls and urged people involved "take suitable safety
precautions" to help prevent the possibility that these people
might be infected.
In Hong Kong, local officials are also taking measures to ensure
poultry retailers observe the law.
So far, there have been several cases reported in Viet Nam and
Thailand of bird to human transmission of H5N1 avian influenza.
While there are no confirmed cases of human to human
transmission, the World Health Organization said Sunday that two
sisters who died of bird flu in Viet Nam may have caught the
disease from their brother. That may prove to be the first known
case of human-to-human transmission of the lethal virus.
"The investigation has not been able to conclusively identify
the source of infection for the two sisters," the WHO said in a
statement. "However, WHO considers that limited human-to-human
transmission, from the brother to his sisters, is one possible
explanation," it said.
According to an analysis from experts at the centre for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the United States,
human-to-human contact is not farfetched.
If a person already infected with common human flu contracts the
bird flu virus, the two could link.
Should that happen, the bird flu virus may combine with human
flu virus and gain the ability to spread among humans.
People do not have a natural immunity to H5N1. That's what makes
the scenario of human-to-human transmission so dangerous, said
Roy.
Still, the H5N1 virus must face several hurdles before it can
mutate, Roy added.
At the same time, WHO refuted claims that bird flu virus
originated from China.
There is no evidence to support the claims that China is the
source of the bird flu virus, and there is no clear answer yet as
to where the virus originated, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib was
quoted as saying.
(China Daily February 2, 2004)