China began to inoculate pigs Wednesday with newly developed vaccines in accordance to fixed schedule in southwest China's Sichuan Province in an effort to prevent the spread of swine flu. Besides, the Ministry of Health announced yesterday that a total of 754 people were killed by 27 kinds of infectious diseases throughout the country in July.

Pigs in Sichuan began to be inoculated against Streptococcus suis yesterday with newly developed vaccines, according to the provincial animal husbandry and food bureau.

Qu Kunning, the bureau's director, said the compulsory program, approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, is starting in areas that have not reported cases of the disease before progressing to areas that have.

The vaccines were produced by a company in the southern province of Guangdong and another Sichuan-based firm, and the vaccination program will provide them free to pig farmers, Qu said.

Pigs will be given two injections within 15 days, which will provide immunity for no less than four months, according to the vaccines' producers.

Piglets less than 30 days old and weak, sick or pregnant pigs will be exempt from inoculation, said Li Guoan, a senior bureau researcher.

Since the first hospitalization in Ziyang City on June 24, 39 people have died in Sichuan's outbreak. The Ministry of Health said 214 people were infected as of noon on August 8 and 89 had been discharged from medical care.

The Ministry of Agriculture said 644 pigs had died from the infection by August 4.
 
Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection yesterday reported the special administrative region's eighth human case this year; a 78-year-old woman developed symptoms on August 3, was admitted to hospital on Monday and is now in a stable condition.

No link has been found between the Sichuan outbreak and either the Hong Kong cases or one diagnosed in Chao'an County of Guangdong on July 27.

The Ministry of Health released July's infectious diseases figures on Wednesday, but they do not include Streptococcus suis as it is not on their list of 27 notifiable diseases.

A total 390,418 people contracted notifiable infections on the mainland in July and 754 of them died from 23 diseases, including three from anthrax.

The top five killers were tuberculosis, rabies, HIV/AIDS, encephalitis B and hepatitis B, and there were no reported infections or deaths from polio, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), avian influenza or diphtheria.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily August 11, 2005)