Posted on 02/02/2004 4:06:01 AM PST by Prince Charles
China has staged a comprehensive cover-up of a bird flu epidemic similar to last year’s deception over Sars, despite assurances to the contrary by Beijing’s leaders.
A large number of poultry markets in southern China have reported cases of the disease, and dozens of traders and butchers in contact with infected chickens have died, The Times has learnt.
Government officials are said to be aware of the problem, but chose not to inform the World Health Organisation and instead threatened to dismiss Chinese journalists who report human deaths as a result of the flu epidemic.
Last year President Hu Jintao headed off international criticism of China’s initial obfuscation over Sars by pledging greater transparency. Last week a government spokesman denied a New Scientist magazine report that the bird flu sweeping Asia in recent weeks originated in China and insisted that the country had no more than a small number of isolated outbreaks.
According to local journalists in two affected provinces, officials are aware of being in the middle of a major outbreak. Poultry markets have been ravaged by the epidemic for several weeks and botched culls are said to have increased the risk of human infection.
Last night China reported five more suspected cases of bird flu in poultry, including one in the remote northwestern region of Xinjiang, indicating that the disease has spread across the country.
Lacking protective clothing and equipment, health workers may become part of the transmission route and abet the mutation of the virus into a more deadly form. Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman, said there were concerns about “developing a strain that you would not want to see — many of these culling workers are not wearing the right personal protective equipment”.
Chinese journalists who have closely followed the spread of diseases in animal markets since the eruption of Sars last year said they are being prevented from publishing stories detailing human bird flu deaths. “A document has been issued by the propaganda department that has stopped all coverage,” one said. “It is clear anyone who mentions the deaths of people from bird flu will lose their job.”
Estimates of the number of human deaths in China range from single digits to several dozen, with many more being treated in hospitals, where they are not classified as suffering from bird flu. The confirmed death toll for other Asian countries is ten.
Beijing has instructed media and government offices in southern provinces to repeat bulletins issued by Xinhua, the state news agency, which has downplayed the epidemic.
Suspicions about China’s commitment to transparency were further highlighted yesterday when the WHO criticised Beijing for failing to report the latest Sars case, the fourth since last summer, until the patient had recovered.
“WHO was not informed about this case until January 30,” the health body said.
“Early detection, swift isolation and prompt reporting of cases are vital in the control of any infectious disease.”
The first Sars case was recorded in southern Guangdong province in November 2002 but local authorities failed to inform the Health Ministry. When millions of Chinese travelled across the country for new year holidays the following February, the virus triggered an epidemic.
By March, international observers suspected a major outbreak of the bug on the mainland after mass infections in Hong Kong and other Asian cities. In mid-April it was devastatingly clear that Chinese officials had vastly under-reported the number of Sars cases. In Beijing, instead of 37 patients, several hundred were languishing in the capital’s hospitals. When the WHO came to inspect, highly contagious patients were packed into ambulances and driven around the city until the inspectors left.
Only when the international outcry over the epidemic threatened to affect China’s economy did Beijing finally take control. President Hu inspected Sars hospitals in Guangdong province and then ordered the dismissal of the Health Minister and the Mayor of Beijing.
Experts still suspect that the real number of Sars deaths was higher than the 350 reported and that military hospitals were hiding cases from civilian authorities.
The Chicoms never learn.
Two people with suspected symptoms of bird flu are being examined in Germany, according to emergency services.
Doctors said two women they suspected were infected were in a tropical diseases clinic in Hamburg.
Meanwhile, in Asia bird flu has claimed two more victims.
Thai Health Ministry officials said a 58-year-old man had become the third person to die of the disease in Thailand.
He is the 12th person to die during the epidemic which has hit 10 Asian countries.
Thailand has now recorded four confirmed human cases of bird flu.
Meanwhile, an 18-year-old man has died from the disease in Vietnam, the country's ninth victim.
The World Health Organisation is continuing to investigate the deaths of two Vietnamese sisters who may have caught the disease through contact with their brother.
It is not known how the girls caught the virus but it is not thought close contact with poultry was to blame.
If true, it would be the first time humans have passed the virus to each other and would be a big blow to attempts to stem the Asian-wide outbreak.
Chinese officials have now reported confirmed or suspected bird flu cases in one third of the country.
The total of confirmed and suspected outbreaks is now 14, affecting 10 out of China's 31 provincial regions.
Last Updated: 13:54 UK, Monday February 02, 2004
Dozens? They're at it again. Now we don't know how wide spread it is.
I'm not necessarily doubting that, but I don't see why that would be the case.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.