All live poultry markets in Beijing were ordered to close yesterday, and quarantine officials are going door-to-door to confiscate chickens and ducks.
Shanghai, the largest city in China, has also implemented a ban on the sale of ducks, quails, and other types of poultry.
In Liaoning Province, located east of Beijing, the government has ordered the culling of 6 million poultry in 15 villages near the site of a recent outbreak that has resulted in the deaths of 8,940 chickens.
The ramping up of avian flu measures in the world’s most populous country coincides with the opening of an international conference on avian influenza in Geneva, Switzerland, where warnings were issued that a global human flu pandemic is inevitable and could cost the global economy at least $800 billion. “It is only a matter of time before the avian flu virus is capable of transferring from human to human and causes an outbreak among people,” stated WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook.
Beijing reopened an investigation on Sunday to determine whether avian influenza was responsible for the death of a 12-year-old girl and the illness of two others last month. Initial conclusions indicated that this was not the H5N1 virus. Roy Wadia, spokesperson for the WHO in Beijing, mentioned that China has requested the organization’s support for the investigation.
Currently, China has no confirmed cases of human infection. However, experts warn that human transmission is inevitable if the outbreak among the 5.2 billion chickens, ducks, and other poultry is not contained. There is particular concern regarding China due to the large scale of its poultry farming industry and the fact that many major migratory bird routes pass through the country.
M.C. (according to AP)
