Beijing claims victory over bird flu, Thailand and Japan in crisis
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) China says it has won the battle against avian influenza and has suspended its quarantine policies in the cities of Nanning (Guangxi) and Lhasa (Tibet), areas which are still affected by the virus.
In Thailand, however, news arrived yesterday of the death of a 39 year-old woman who once worked on chicken farm. Her death marks the 23rd time someone has died from the bird flu in Asia.
The situation is critical in Japan as well. Over the weekend Japanese authorities confirmed the infection of a crow and the government has authorized punishment of farmers covering up cases of infection on their properties.
Twenty-nine days have passed since China has registered new cases, while no cases of human infection have ever been reported in the country.
Jia Youling, Ministry of Agricultural spokesman and chairman of the state department of zootecnics and veterinary science, admitted that the situation is "still serious in terms of prevention and control." He warned that there might be a resurgence of the disease, since "migratory and water birds are natural carriers of the virus and they are still transporting (the disease)."
Regarding compensating farmers who culled their chickens Jia Youling stated that payment "varies according to local market prices." But in general, he says "it is well above chicken prices set after the virus spread and farmers are quite satisfied." A chicken culled in Zhejiang is worth 15 yuan, whereas in the country's poorest provinces the same bird is worth 5 yuan.
Meanwhile in Vietnam, the Thanh Binh Animal Farming and Feed Co. Ltd (the country's largest poultry company) will insure up to 1 million chickens over the next 2 months so that people will be encouraged to eat poultry. The company has already spent 500 million (50,000 euro) or 5 dongs a bird on insurance policies to guarantee each bird's health standards. The company will also provide compensation of 100 million dongs (18,000 euro) plus reimbursement of medical expenses to relatives whose kinsmen die of bird flu after eating the company's chicken meat.
The company's chickens will be packaged with a certificate of guarantee, stating that the meat is disease-free and covered by insurance if someone were to die after ingesting the meat. (MR)
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17/08/2004
17/01/2004
20/01/2005
