A press spokesman with China's Ministry of Health (MOH) Tuesday refuted a report that there were people infected with the widespread avian influenza on the Chinese mainland. 

The spokesman said a report in Britain's Times on Feb. 3 was "groundless and irresponsible."

"There is no single person infected by the bird flu on the Chinese mainland so far," he said.
 
The spokesman told Xinhua that the MOH has strengthened the surveillance of human-to-human transmission of the bird flu after surrounding regions of China reported the highly infectious disease.

He said the MOH has formulated an urgent action plan to curb inter-human transmission, a plan to carry out epidemiological investigation, and a guideline to prevent transmission for people with close contact with sick poultry.

Moreover, the ministry also started a technical program for inter-human transmission surveillance and lab testing for medical workers nationwide, he added.

According to the spokesman, the MOH has also strengthened work on flu surveillance. The ministry has taken 22,000 flu samples since April 2002 and separated 1,459 viral strains, but "not a single deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been separated among the samples," the spokesman said.

After the report of the bird flu virus with high pathogenicity in some parts of the Chinese mainland, health departments of these provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions already with infection reports have enhanced surveillance, given preventive medication in bird flu-hit areas and thoroughly disinfected relevant spots.

According to reports from health departments of different localities, the health authorities have undertaken medical examination and observance of 588 people in close contact with the sick poultry and so far there is no single report of the bird flu infection, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2004)