China admits to first human case of bird flu
The victim is a boy from Hunan, the brother of a girl who died a month ago from "pneumonia". New outbreaks of infection have been reported in Xinjiang. The infection is spreading in Vietnam despite widespread slaughter of birds, and the production of a vaccine has been announced.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) China has admitted to a probable case of human infection of bird flu while the virus continues to invade new regions. This is the first case since 2003.
China. Preliminary testing reveals that He Junyao, a nine-year-old boy from Wantang, Xiangtan county in Hunan, has contracted bird flu. Previous tests, undertaken by the local health department, "were negative" said Qi Xiaoqiu, director of the health ministry's department of disease control. "But the results from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are positive", even if further testing is required to confirm the results. The World Health Organisation's (WHO's) Beijing spokesman, Roy Wadia, said he was "not surprised" even if he is waiting for confirmation, expected within days. Meanwhile, WHO experts are currently in Xiangtan to conduct confirmatory tests while their colleagues study lab samples of suspect cases in Beijing.
The boy fell ill on 13 October together with his sister He Yin at the same time as an infection outbreak among birds in the village. His sister died within a few days and her body was cremated before any accurate testing could be carried out. The official diagnosis for both cases was of "pneumonia caused by unknown factors", but 11 days after the media raised doubts about this, the Health Minister requested WHO intervention. The boy was discharged from hospital last week. Now Qi admits that the previous tests "may not have been appropriate" even because "it was the first time the local laboratory conducted such tests, and their quality is limited." A 36-year-old teacher fell ill with identical symptoms at around the same time in a neighbouring village, but official health sources excluded infection, without giving any further explanations.
Yesterday two outbreaks of infection were reported in the remote north-west region of Xinjiang where more than 6,500 birds were infected and 320,000 culled in the capital Urumqi and Zepu county. The authorities have admitted to 11 outbreaks since October (in Mongolia Interior, Liaoning, Anhui, Hubei and Henan). China has announced that it will vaccinate all poultry stocks, more than 14 billion animals. In Heishan county in Liaoning, Zhao Yonghe, head of the Badaohao Township Animal Husbandry Station, was arrested for certifying infected chickens as healthy.
Vietnam. The media has reported two other suspect cases of infection hospitalized in Hanoi with typical symptoms: a 15-year-old girl and a 71-year-old woman. Testing is under way. The Agriculture Minister reported new outbreaks of the H5N1 virus in three other provinces, the central Quang Ngai and the northern Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh provinces. In a bid to contain the infection, massive culling of poultry continues. Hanoi breeders said they receive 15,000 dong (around 95 cents of a US dollar) for every duck slaughtered but it costs 40,000 dong to raise one. However in the city of Ho Chi Minh, where a ban on poultry breeding is on, animals found in people's homes are culled and no compensation is given.
Scientists in Vietnam are undertaking continuous testing on birds in which they have identified a type of influenza virus, although it does not appear to be dangerous to man. The fear is that some strains could evolve into forms and pathogenes which endanger human beings. Today Vietnam announced it will produce its own vaccine to protect poultry.
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