China accused of starting bird flu outbreak

[Guest guest]

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/latest/story/0,4390,232362-1075413540,00.html?

 

The Straits Times

JAN 29, 2004 THU

 

China accused of starting bird flu outbreak

 

BEIJING -- China was on Thursday facing allegations

that it was the source of the Asia-wide bird flu

outbreak as the World Health Organisation asked for an

explanation of the deaths of two Hong Kong tourists a

year ago.

 

The respected British weekly New Scientist said it

believed the outbreak began in southern China in early

2003 after a poultry vaccination scheme went wrong and

that it had since been covered up.

 

The report has put the spotlight back on the two dead

tourists who visited southern China in February last

year. The WHO has asked the Chinese government for

more information as part of efforts to establish the

history of the bird flu outbreak which has been

detected in 10 Asian nations.

 

'It's definitely worth getting a final conclusion on

the case,' Beijing-based WHO spokesman Roy Wadia said

on Thursday.

 

An eight-year-old Hong Kong girl fell ill and died in

south-east China's Fujian province in February last

year while visiting her family.

 

Her father died 12 days later after returning to Hong

Kong, and post-mortem specimens showed he had come

down with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus which

has claimed 10 lives in Vietnam and Thailand.

 

The WHO last week asked the Chinese health authorities

for more details about this case, although it has

warned about making any premature link between the two

deaths and the current bird flu outbreak.

 

'There could have been several emerging sources,' said

Mr Wadia, adding that so far the UN health body had

received no response.

 

The New Scientist, quoting unidentified health

experts, said the outbreak 'probably' began in China.

 

'A combination of official cover-up and questionable

farming practices allowed it to turn into the epidemic

now under way,' said the magazine.

 

China on Thursday denied the allegations. Foreign

ministry spokesman Zhang Qiyue rejected the charges

saying: 'We believe that such an allegation is totally

inaccurate, groundless and doesn't respect science.'

 

China earlier this week confirmed bird flu had been

discovered at a duck farm near its border with

Vietnam.

 

Suspected cases of bird flu have also been detected in

central China's Hubei and Hunan provinces. Local

officials said on Wednesday that those cases have been

provisionally confirmed as bird flu.

 

Indonesia agrees to cull

Meanwhile, Indonesia on Thursday caved in to

international pressure and ordered the immediate

killing of all poultry infected with bird flu, but it

was unclear whether the cull would extend to healthy

poultry as it has in other nations.

 

'We will do it. We will destroy those infected. The

good ones will be saved,' Welfare Minister Yusuf Kalla

said. Indonesia has said millions of birds across much

of the vast archipelago have been infected.

 

India bans all poultry imports

The Indian government said on Thursday it has banned

all poultry imports from all countries.

 

'India has completely banned the import of poultry

(products) from any country following the outbreak of

the deadly bird flu,' Health Minister Sushma Swaraj

told reporters.

 

She added that no case of a bird death due to the flu

had been reported from any part of the country. -- AFP

 

 

 

 

 

SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it!

http://webhosting./ps/sb/