Chinese Health Ministry Puzzled Over Independent Cases Of Bird Flu
Posted on: Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 13:23 CST
A spokesman for China's Health Ministry said on Tuesday the country is puzzled by eight human cases of bird flu in January, which appeared independent of any known case in birds, Reuters reported.
Five Chinese died in January from H5N1 in far-out regions without any reported presence of the virus in birds on the mainland, reports indicated.
Experts have questioned whether bird flu is widely present but undetected in China, after several dead birds that washed up in Hong Kong tested positive for the H5N1 strain earlier this month.
Ministry spokesman Mao Qunan told reporters: "We see the result, but not the cause. We don't know where it has come from, but people have been infected. When people are infected, in theory it should be present in birds."
The Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday there had been an H5N1 outbreak among poultry in Hotan, in the far western region of Xinjiang, where 519 birds were killed.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that authorities have culled another 13,218 birds and the outbreak is currently under control.
However, the eastern Jiangsu province reported one case of bird flu detected through sampling this winter. China conducts random sampling and culls birds if the virus is detected.
The Agriculture Ministry defended its vaccination campaign last week as having successfully prevented widespread incidence of bird flu.
Mao said the Ministry of Health is requiring hospitals to increase efforts of early detection and testing for bird flu.
He added that some people might be genetically more susceptible to bird flu than others.
The mother of a toddler that contracted bird flu earlier this year died of pneumonia shortly before her daughter took ill. The child has since recovered, but the mother was never tested for the virus.
H5N1 rarely infects people, but many experts fear it could mutate into a form people that could easily pass to one another, sparking a pandemic.
Bird flu has killed millions of poultry in a growing number of countries throughout Asia, Europe and Africa.
Health experts are concerned that the co-existence of human flu viruses and avian flu viruses (especially H5N1) will provide an opportunity for genetic material to be exchanged between species-specific viruses, possibly creating a new virulent influenza strain that is easily transmissible and lethal to humans.
---
On the Net:
Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
Related Articles
- Reportlinker Adds China Agricultural Machinery Industry Report, 2009
- The Aethlon Hemopurifier(R) Proves Effective in Capturing the Reconstructed Spanish Flu of 1918 and H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus
- eGene's HDA-GT12 Genetic Analyzer Demonstrates the Rapid H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus Detection
- Avian Flu (Bird Flu) Ruled Out, but Duck Deaths Still a Mystery
- US to monitor wild birds for H5N1 in lower 48
- One year on, faint hope for reporter held in China
- Turkey Confirms Two Cases of Human Infection With the H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus
- Reporter held in China "likely to face trial": wife
- WWF Experts Available for Comment on Avian Flu, Bird Trade and Wildlife Impacts
- Medical Expert Warns China May Have 10 Million HIV Carriers in 2010if Strong Measures Not Taken
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds