South China Provinces Hold Joint Drill to Prevent Bird Flu

Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po website on 12 December

[Roundup report: "Nanjing Analysis Report Says Father and Son Have Same Virus"]

Roundup by Wen Wei Po reporters Shen T’ing in Jiangsu and Ao Min- hui at the Pearl River Delta News Centre, 11 Dec

The Health Department of Jiangsu Province has disclosed that a virus analysis report was completed today for a man named Lu who is still in hospital being treated for avian influenza. The analysis showed the virus to be a type found in birds, that no change in its essential nature has occurred, there is no biological basis for human-to-human transmission of the virus, it is the same virus as the one which Lu’s son caught, and it is possible that Lu father and son both caught the virus from the same source.

The Health Department’s Emergencies Office also indicated that the currently available evidence shows that the two men had gone to the same location on separate occasions, so their cases may involve the same outbreak. Besides that, medical observation of people who had close contact with the two patients ended today, and everyone including Mrs Lu and her son’s girlfriend has been released from isolation.

Guangdong and Guangxi exercise to prevent outbreak of bird flu

A reporter has learned from the Guangdong Province Health Department’s Emergencies Office that in view of the ties between the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, to create a sound mechanism for emergency coordination and joint prevention and control by the two provinces in the event of a public health incident, on 11 December Guangdong Province’s Health Department joined with the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s Health Department to conduct an emergency response training exercise called “Guangdong-Guangxi Tianshi [Angel] Exercise Number 1.” The exercise was aimed at prevention and effective control of a possible outbreak of bird flu in people.

Originally published by Wen Wei Po website, Hong Kong, in Chinese 12 Dec 07.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.