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China's Health Ministry Denies Bird Flu Killed "Hundreds"

Posted on: Friday, 25 November 2005, 18:00 CST

Text of report by reporter Li Xing, carried by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Asia-Pacific service

Beijing, 25 November: Commenting on a recent Internet report that alleges that "a Japanese virus expert has claimed that hundreds of Chinese people have died from avian influenza," Mao Qunan, spokesman for China's Ministry of Health, said to Xinhua during an interview that the allegation was strictly a rumour.

Mao Qunan said: "The Ministry of Health and the WHO have confirmed that none of the experts whom WHO commissioned to investigate avian influenza in Hunan was a Japanese virus expert. The report that says that this expert has claimed that hundreds of Chinese have died because of avian influenza infection is untrue."

The spokesman reiterated that, there have been three cases in China that have been diagnosed as the highly pathogenic avian influenza [HPAI] cases. In areas where avian flu has erupted, health authorities have conducted strict medical observations for those people who had close contacts with deceased domestic fowls, and tightened up the work of monitoring and reporting those patients with fever and respiratory disease. At the same time, health authorities have also tightened up the work of pre-screening and diagnosing patients with fever and respiratory disease separately; and have immediately handled all abnormal situations.

The spokesman said: After cases of human having been infected by HAPI appeared in interior China, the Ministry of Health immediately notified WHO, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and some countries; and also made the epidemic situation known to the public.

Mao Qunan also disclosed that, at the WHO headquarters' news briefing that just ended, the WHO spokesperson confirmed that China did not cover up the situation of human having been infected by avian influenza. Mao said that the Japanese expert, Makoto Tashiro, whom a certain medium mentioned in its report, never visited China for investigation purpose as a WHO expert.

Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile

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