Fresh bird flu case in China, India on alert (Reuters) Updated: 2005-10-26 15:42
Fears of avian flu spreading deepened on Wednesday after China reported
another outbreak in poultry and India said it was testing blood samples from 10
dead migratory birds.
There has been a spate of fresh cases in Asia and on the western edge of
Europe ahead of the winter, when experts say the deadly H5N1 strain thrives
best.
Health workers
disinfect vehicles coming out of Bayan township near Hohhot in the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region October 24, 2005, following the deaths of 2,600
birds from H5N1 bird flu strain in a farm there last week. [China
Daily] | Scientists believe migratory birds escaping the harsh northern winter are
helping spread the virus and governments around the world are nervously eyeing
their borders and testing wild birds landing on their shores.
In China's latest case, hundreds of chickens and ducks died in a village in
central Hunan province.
China had notified the United Nations of the latest outbreak in Wantang
village in Xiangtan County near the provincial capital Changsha on Tuesday,
according to a notice on the Web site of the World Organization for Animal
Health (www.oie.int).
"The outbreak has been effectively controlled," the Agriculture Daily
newspaper said, quoting the national bird flu laboratory as saying it had
identified the strain as the deadly H5N1.
China reported on Tuesday another outbreak among farm geese in the eastern
province of Anhui and said it too had been brought under control with no
reported human infections.
China, the world's most populous nation, has billions of poultry, many living
around the homes of farmers. At present, most people are infected with bird flu
by handling sick birds or through their droppings.
But scientists' greatest fear is that H5N1 will mutate
into a form that will pass easily among people, sparking a pandemic that could
kill millions and cripple the global economy.
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