Local authorities across China stepped up its fight against avian influenza after three reported outbreaks and the death of a girl who suffered pneumonia-like symptoms in a bird flu-hit area earlier this month.

 

Increased surveillance on migratory birds has become a priority in many areas and local officials are setting up checkpoints to keep questionable poultry away from markets.

 

In Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a pigeon race was cancelled for fear that the birds might transmit the virus even though an organizer said homing pigeons could not fly as far as Inner Mongolia, Anhui or Hunan where outbreaks were reported.

 

In Shanghai, medical staff are being trained to handle bird flu-related emergencies; vaccine research has become a key focus; and emergency materials such as disinfectant and protective gear are being stockpiled.

 

In Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, health workers are distributing brochures that explain the differences between regular flu and bird flu, and give tips on hygiene.

 

The Hong Kong government will conduct a drill next month to prepare itself for any flu outbreak. Chief Executive Donald Tsang will participate in the drill with residential communities and hospitals, Xinhua News Agency reported.

 

On Sunday, leaflets with information on the avian flu were distributed  in the Causeway Bay, Central, and Tsim Sha Tsui areas as part of the SAR government's publicity and awareness efforts.

 

The leaflets, entitled What You Should Know about Avian Flu, came in two versions -- one printed in Chinese and English, and the other in Thai, Indonesian, Nepali, Hindi and Urdu.

 

While in Sham Shui Po, an area with hundreds of crows, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department started culling birds to reduce the risk of an outbreak.

 

To date, the H5N1 virus has not been detected in Hong Kong.

 

In southwest China's Yunnan Province, seven hospitals and two laboratories have been designated to monitor possible bird flu outbreaks in the province, an official said in Yunnan on Sunday.

 

The surveillance work will mainly target people who have raised, sold, slaughtered or processed sick or dead poultry, those who have given medical treatment to sick or dead poultry, those who have killed and handled sick or dead poultry without proper protective measures, those who have come into contact with the excrement of sick or dead poultry, and those who live in an environment polluted by the excrement of poultry.

 

People who have lived with patients suspected of or confirmed to have had contact with the flu or bird flu viruses, taken care of patients or come into contact with any secretions, excrement and body fluids of patients will also be put under surveillance.

 

Surveillance results will be reported to the provincial disease prevention and control center on a daily basis.

 

When a bird flu case is reported, the seven hospitals will provide medical help to those living within a radius of three kilometers from the epidemic center.

 

All data of the surveillance will be put into an online information system, according to the center.

 

The two bird flu monitoring labs will be established in the provincial disease prevention and control center and the disease prevention and control center of the Hani-Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Honghe.

 

The labs will be responsible for separating and identifying the flu virus.

 

Chinese Health Minister Gao Qiang said at a ministerial-level international meeting in Canada earlier this week that China had set up 192 flu monitoring stations nationwide. The ministry will send doctors and experts to assess the health of local people if a monitoring station reports evidence of a bird flu outbreak.

 

Yunnan shares a border with Vietnam, which has reported expansive bird flu outbreaks. In an attempt to calm the situation, experts in the province have called on the local people not to over-react or panic.

 

The three bird flu-stricken areas in central China's Hunan Province, East China's Anhui Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of north China remain closed to outsiders.

 

Health authorities had confirmed the death of a 12-year-old girl this month in Hunan after she ate a disease-stricken chicken and contracted pneumonia.

 

The Ministry of Health reported the girl's death to the World Health Organization on Friday evening.

 

Tamiflu production

 

Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG reiterated yesterday that it is looking for external producers for its Tamiflu drug, amid skyrocketing demand and concerns about a possible pandemic.

 

"We are currently assessing which organizations and countries have the ability to supplement our own capability," Roche Chairman Franz Humer said at the 17th International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai held in Shanghai, according to a Reuters report.

 

Demand has soared in recent weeks for Tamiflu, an antiviral drug approved for use as a treatment but not a cure for seasonal flu, amid mounting concerns of a potential flu pandemic that could be caused by the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

 

Countries, companies and individuals have been stockpiling the prescription drug, prompting Roche to suspend deliveries in the United States last week to prevent a buying glut by consumers and companies.

 

The spike in demand led Roche to say it would enter into discussions with other companies, primarily makers of generic or copycat drugs, and with governments in developing countries as to whether or not they can help produce the drug in part or as a whole.

 

The company also previously said it would not let patents stand in the way of getting Tamiflu to patients in case of a pandemic.

 

Some countries, such as Argentina, have said they will produce their own version of Tamiflu.

 

Humer said the decision whether or not countries should stockpile the drug was up to individual governments.

 

"Countries need to make up their own minds what they intend to do," he said.

 

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2005)