More than 1,000 migratory birds dead from bird flu in China(previously 178)

Channel News Asia ^ | 05/27/05

[TigerLikesRooster]

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 27 May 2005 1626 hrs

More than 1,000 migratory birds dead from bird flu in China

Birds over Xian

BEIJING : More than 1,000 migratory birds have been found dead from the H5N1 strain of avian flu in China, far higher than previously acknowledged, Chinese officials said.

"Up to May 26 a total of over 1,000 birds have been found dead," Jia Youling, director of the Ministry of Agriculture's veterinary bureau, said at a press conference.

China had previously admitted only 178 birds died from an outbreak of bird flu at a nature reserve in the western province of Qinghai.

The dead birds include wild geese, gulls and cormorants.

A report sent by the bureau to the World Organization for Animal Health, seen by AFP, said the estimated date of primary infection of the birds was April 15 at Lake Qinghai, the nation's largest saltwater lake.

The site, an important rendezvous of migratory birds on one of their Asia-Europe routes, is a major tourist attraction.

Tests confirming an outbreak of bird flu were carried out on May 18 with the ministry making the information public three days later, the report showed.

Since then China has been conducting a massive containment effort, scrambling to vaccinate three million birds in the province.

It is the first confirmed outbreak in China in nearly a year from the H5N1 virus, which is potentially lethal to humans.

On Thursday, China's Ministry of Health said that no cases of human infection had been detected.

Chinese scientists meanwhile have announced two new vaccines have been developed to effectively curb the spread of H5N1 to fowl, water birds and mammals. - AFP/de

[TigerLikesRooster]

There is a rumor going around in China which says that 121 people were dead, and 1,300 are under quarantine.

With the history of government cover-up, rumors in one form or another certainly continue to fly.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[Jet Jaguar]

ping

[Pillows]

I don't believe it. I think they're wrong. It's FERAL CATS That killed all the birds.

[Vaquero]

Can you say Pandemic? I knew you could.

[iso]

Danger

[Gritty]

As these are migratory birds, it could spell big trouble if the virus does cross over into humans.

There is no way to either contain or eliminate migratory birds.

[ex-Texan]

Perhaps my earlier post on another thread is accurate. In a report by Patricia Doyle, Ph.D., China is again accused of covering up a very nasty disease. Over a hundred are dead and over a thousand are under quarantine locked away from press coverage.

Final Phase 6 Bird Flu Pandemic Has Begun in China

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1410789/posts?page=29#29

"Phase 6" means human-to-human transmission is easily accomplished by the Bird Flu virus. Over a hundred have died in the past week or so according to the report.

[Dog Gone]

It's pretty darn hard to vaccinate migratory birds so there's no way to contain this. We already know that people can catch it from birds, so it's just a question of verifying that it's mutated into a form that is communicable between humans.

The indications from northern Vietnam are that the strain has mutated in such a form in that region. The same isn't true, at least yet, in southern Vietnam, and of course, all data from China is suspect.