A 31-year-old man in south China's Guangdong Province has been confirmed to have
contracted bird flu, bringing the country's total human infections
of the disease to 19, reported the Chinese Ministry of Health on
Thursday.
The patient, surnamed Jiang, is a migrant worker in Shenzhen
City. He showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on June 3 and has
been hospitalized ever since.
He is now in critical condition, said the ministry in a
report.
Epidemiological research found Jiang had been to a local market,
where live poultry were sold, several times before developing the
symptoms.
Jiang was tested H5N1 positive by the Shenzhen center for
disease control and prevention (CDC) and the provincial and
national CDCs.
He has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu in accordance
with the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Chinese government, said the ministry.
The ministry has reported the new case to the WHO, Hong Kong,
Macao and Taiwan, as well as several countries.
Jiang was reported by the local health authorities as a
suspected case of bird flu on Tuesday. All 98 people who had close
contact with Jiang tested negative for the disease, according to
the local health bureau.
The health department in neighboring Hong Kong on Tuesday warned
the public to be vigilant against bird flu, while Macao announced
on Wednesday it would halt the import of live poultry from
Shenzhen.
Jiang is the 19th human case of bird flu reported in China.
Among the previous 18 cases, 12 have died.
Globally, 225 human infections, including 128 deaths, have been
recorded by the WHO, according to its official website.
Health experts fear the bird flu virus would mutate into a form
that can easily pass between people, causing a global pandemic.
The Chinese government is "keeping a close eye on bird flu and
has strengthened scientific research and nationwide surveillance,"
said Ministry of Health spokesman Mao Qun'an on Monday.
A Shanghai-based company was approved Tuesday by the State Food
and Drug Administration (SFDA) to produce the anti-flu drug
Tamiflu. Tests showed the domestic Tamiflu was as effective and
safe on humans as the imported version, said the SFDA.
Tamiflu is an anti-viral drug which is considered the most
effective treatment available to counter the H5N1 strain of bird
flu.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that China
has successfully developed three new bird flu vaccines and a new
technology for diagnosing the disease.
The three new vaccines include the reverse genetics inactivated
vaccine (H5N1), H5N1 recombinant fowlpox vaccine, and recombinant
bivalent avian influenza-Newcastle disease live vaccine.
If used together, the three vaccines "offer a solid technical
guarantee for the Chinese government to effectively control the
highly pathogenic avian influenza," the ministry said.
The newly developed rapid diagnostic strip for detecting H5 bird
flu virus can detect the virus in 10 minutes.
China has reported more than 30 outbreaks of the flu in birds
since last October. The latest bird flu outbreak occurred in remote
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region early this
month.
China's chief veterinary officer Jia Youling on Thursday warned
that bird flu is on the rise among migratory birds this year.
A total of 1,168 migratory birds had been found dead in Qinghai
and Tibet by June 1. The disease was striking more species of wild
birds than last year, Jiang said, noting that the agricultural
ministry would target migration paths for future supervision,
especially in areas with a record of infection.
It will also study migration patterns of wild birds to prepare
migration this autumn.
The Ministry of Agriculture issued an emergency order on Monday
for local governments to tighten controls over poultry stocks to
prevent bird flu contamination by migratory birds, calling for
strict supervision of areas below all possible flight paths of
migratory birds, lakes and other sites with a record of bird flu
infection.
The ministry also ordered immediate reporting of any dead
poultry or wild birds to county-level animal epidemic prevention
agencies, and suspected cases must be reported to state-level bird
flu laboratories.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government was working closely with
international organizations to fight bird flu.
Last week, China joined in a pandemic response exercise in
prevention and control of bird flu held by the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC), which is aimed to test the
preparations of the organization's members in terms of information
sharing, technological support and prevention of cross-border
contamination.
On Tuesday, a center was set up by China and the WHO to fight
infectious diseases including influenza.
The center, based in south China's Guangdong Province, will become a training
base of southern provinces of China and may expand to become a
training center for neighboring countries, according to the
WHO.
It will also work with the Guangdong CDC laboratory to detect
emerging infectious diseases and carry out epidemiological research
and study the origin of diseases that can be transmitted from
animals.
(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2006)