South China's Guangdong Province is on high alert against the bird flu outbreak that is striking Viet Nam, Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations and regions.

The Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Health Thursday issued an emergency notice urging authorities to take effective measures to prevent a bird flu outbreak.

The State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine yesterday said the highly contagious avian influenza had not occurred in any of the poultry farms and processing plants in the mainland that supply products to the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

In addition to Guangdong, quarantine watchdogs in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and in Yunnan Province have stepped up border checks and cracked down on illegal imports of animals, a statement from the agency said.

"Despite no bird flu cases having been reported in human beings and animals in Guangdong this year, we must take effective preventive measures to stop the fatal virus from entering and spreading in the province," an official from the health bureau who asked to remain anonymous said Thursday.

Shenzhen and Foshan, two populous cities in the Pearl River Delta, have initiated contingency plans to prevent bird flu from spreading.

The bureau will send inspectors to major cities before the arrival of the Lunar New Year on February 9, said the official.

Guangdong will also expand contacts and increase exchanges on fighting bird flu in the coming months, the official added.

And the provincial quarantine authorities will expand inspections on imports and exports domestic animals, particularly poultry, to prevent the flu from entering the province that borders Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

In addition to advanced X-ray machines and equipment, specially trained dogs have been sent to the frontier checkpoints to help in quarantine work.

The provincial bureau of quality supervision and quarantine has also expanded inspections on Guangdong's farms that sell chickens to Hong Kong.

All the live chickens and other poultry exported to Hong Kong will have to pass strict inspection to ensure only healthy animals and safe meat-related products are sold to Hong Kong during the Spring Festival period.

Chicken is usually a major dish on the dinner tables and at restaurants in South China, particularly during traditional festivals.

Many people in Guangdong and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region use chickens as part of family worship celebrations during festivals.

Meanwhile, a Guangdong health official urged local residents to pay special heed in preventing meningitis, the flu, pneumonia and other respiratory tract diseases.

Winter and spring, especially February and March, are usually peak periods for flu and other illnesses in southern China, the official told China Daily.

He urged major hospitals in the province to be ready for possible outbreaks of disease.

Children and senior citizens should take flu vaccines to prevent themselves from contracting infectious diseases, the official said.

Local residents have been required to pay even more attention to their personal hygiene, frequently washing their hands and wearing masks while visiting their relatives and friends who have been in ward for treatment.

(China Daily February 4, 2005)