China Tightens Supervision Over Bird Flu Vaccine Production

China tightens supervision over bird flu vaccine production

BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) — The Ministry of Agriculture has punished 13 domestic institutions to tighten the supervision over the production and sale of anti-bird flu vaccines, an unnamed official with the ministry said Sunday.

Recently, the ministry sent out nine inspection teams to supervise vaccine production in 23 provincial areas and regulate the veterinary drug market.

Since January this year, the ministry has conducted special monitoring on 57 pharmaceutical businesses and revoked 60 licenses for veterinary drug production.

The ministry has publicized a namelist of nine officially authorized anti-bird flu vaccine makers in China which are permitted to produce four types of approved vaccines against bird flu. Supervising groups have been dispatched to each authorized maker to oversee the whole process of vaccine making.

China has slaughtered innumerable sick poultry after bird flu was found in some places this year. So far there have been no human- infected cases.