Posted on 05/28/2005 6:06:46 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Fri May 27, 1:22 PM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - China was battling two separate disease outbreaks after more than 1,000 migratory birds died from bird flu and thousands of cattle were culled following a foot-and-mouth outbreak.
The number of birds found dead from the H5N1 strain of avian flu is far higher than previously acknowledged.
"Up to May 26 a total of over 1,000 birds have been found dead, including bar-headed geese, great black-headed gulls and cormorants," Jia Youling, director of the Ministry of Agriculture's veterinary bureau, said Friday at a press conference.
China had previously said only 178 birds died from an outbreak of bird flu at a nature reserve in the western province of Qinghai, sparking a massive vaccination campaign.
The Lake Qinghai reserve, the nation's largest saltwater lake, is also a major tourist attraction.
The H5N1 virus has been fingered as a possible new strain of flu that could be devastating to humans if it genetically mutates and develops the capacity to be transmitted from human-to-human.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that if this happens it could trigger a new human flu pandemic, potentially killing up to 50 million people worldwide.
So far, the deaths of 54 people in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia have been recorded after being infected with H5N1 from birds, while no conclusive proof exists of human-to-human transmission.
Jia said China was taking tough measures to ensure that the epidemic did not spread to domesticated bird populations or humans, including vaccinating domestic birds and banning people from entering the nature reserve.
"All the measures we have taken aim at preventing domestic birds and humans from being infected," Jia said.
"Qinghai province has applied emergency prevention and control measures to infected areas, including tight blockades and stringent disinfection measures, preventing domestic birds from contacting with wild ones."
The disease was spreading along a western China migratory bird route that stretched from South Asia to Central Asia and flew over the Himalayas through the Tibet and Qinghai regions, Jia said.
It was unlikely to spread to the populous eastern provinces, he added.
On Wednesday David Ho, an internationally-renowned US researcher, warned that China remains woefully ill-equipped for tackling avian flu if it begins spreading from human-to-human.
"There is little doubt that China will be in deep trouble if the flu pandemic were to strike in the next few years," Ho said in a commentary published by the British science journal Nature.
China was also struggling with an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease that has hit five provinces and regions and resulted in the culling of more than 4,000 head of cattle, Jia said.
The agriculture ministry was closely monitoring the outbreak of Asian "Type 1" foot-and-mouth disease which had appeared in Hebei, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces and in Beijing and the Xinjiang region, Jia said.
"From April to May four outbreaks happened and 3,771 cattle were culled, including those infected and those in the same herd," Jia said.
"Another 512 cows, who showed no symptoms of foot and mouth disease, were culled in Hebei province after tests showed they were carrying the virus."
The epidemics were under control and the public had nothing to fear, he said. "It is not a public health threat," he said.
China has previously said instances of foot-and-mouth disease are rare although some critics have argued outbreaks happen at much greater frequency than admitted by the authorities.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a severe, highly contagious viral disease affecting cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. It is not usually fatal but causes losses in the production of meat and milk.
Ping!
Ping!
Who knows what they are hiding now?:-)
China deserves the diseaster. A government that presecutes Christians despite the good byproducts of the faith (like lower crime and obedience to authority). Not reported by the MSM, many local police and prison officials are reluctant to crush the Christians because they see the good effects of the faith. Villages with Christian bring down crime and restores ethics and respect for the law. Prison wardens rather put Christian prisoners in charge of food and distribution of supplies because the Christian prisoners are fair and are a stabilizing factor for other prisoners. Despite this, the authorities in Bejing are extremely fearful of any movement that is organized and foreign in origin (CCP thinks the Christian movement is a US tool to destablize China and cover for US spies and agents). Now China is helping rogue nations build nukes, creating a threat to many nations and peoples, just to preserve China's strategic interests against the US and Japan. Well G_d is watching, and G_d is responding. No bunker, and no armor vehicle can withstand fire and brimstone (aka lava rocks) nor can its occupants withstand an airborne spreadable bacteria/virus with no antidote.
The majority of the Chinese people don't deserve it - just the government and its supporters. They don't want to dominate the world, but just want to have a comfortable life and be left alone (as much as any of us want the same thing).
btw: the lowercase 'o' on your keyboard seems intermittent…
Lovely Christian sentiment on your part.....but what, pray tell, does your diatribe have to do with what could turn into a worldwide pandemic if this particular strain mutates to a human-to-human contagion?
China is entering a period of nationalism and materialism. Compassion is practiced amongst family members and maybe within the village members, but outside of these institutions, it is every man/woman for themselves. The average Chinese is quick to complain about Japanese war crimes, and yet choose to ignore their own ruthless treatment of their own citizens and nonChinese ethnic groups. China is no longer the graceful and ethical Confucious society of the past. Communism and unbridled capitalism (similar to the pre-reform US capitalism of the late 19th Century) has destroyed it. Licentious behavior is taking hold amongst the young, highly educated and financially successful in the cities. Granted the average Chinese person wants peace and prosperity, but unfortunately many would not mind if the terrorist have nukes and use them on a US city to teach the arrogant America a lesson. This attitude is prevalent and it is not discouraged in the schools/colleges. Read the Old Testament. God does punish nations (Israel included) when their kings and people sinned. Good people had to suffer along with the bad and pay the consequences for their leaders. I know what I wrote is harsh, and is not a comfortable notion, but to ignore this aspect of God's character is to commit ommission. When biblical Israel was destroyed, good people along with the sinners were enslaved and put into bondage by the Babylonians and Medo Persians.
Considering the brutal state in the Third World (South America and Africa), the athiest state of Western Europe and the licentious behavior of nearly half of the American population, what makes you think the rest of us does not deserve to suffer along with the Chinese?
Maybe you deserve to suffer, but I do not consider myself judge, jury, and executioner of my fellow man.......I leave that to a Being far superior to myself.
That you can not see the implications of this through your fire and brimstone colored glasses is a problem you must deal with personally.
Personally, I will continue to monitor this situation with the hope that it, along with the Malburg epidemic, will be contained before it does far more damage than any of us can possibly fathom.
well, at LEAST you learned how to properly spell 'god' instead of this 'g_d' typing-crap... Too bad about your opinions though.
If you are not a Christian, I can understand and respect your viewpoint. When I was young Christian, I shared your attitude about God. How can a just God be so cruel? Mainstream Christian churches like to talk about God's charitable and patient characteristics as illustrated thru Jesus but practice ommission when it deals with God's harsher side. Book of Revelations (which is part of the Christian scriptures) indicate that God has not abandoned his harsh side of the Old Testament (that is why the Jewish scriptures are still part of the Bible). Sinful nations will be punished and unfortunately the good people wihtin it are also taken along for the ride. Don't take my word, read the scripture and the commentaries that put it in context. It is writtn in English for all to read. There is actually a good book written by a secular writer titled "God". It clinically studies the behavior and characteristics of God as recorded and documented by the entire Bible. It provides an excellent profile of the higher being.
On Wednesday David Ho, an internationally-renowned US researcher, warned that China remains woefully ill-equipped for tackling avian flu if it begins spreading from human-to-human."There is little doubt that China will be in deep trouble if the flu pandemic were to strike in the next few years," Ho said in a commentary published by the British science journal Nature.
Er, uh, er, ah, excuse me. But what if the bird flu is striking now and Chinese officials are covering it up? China is a totaly corrupt country. Why would they change their stripes now?
If there is really a pandemic covered up now, there would be no Olympic Game in 2008.
I do not know you and you do not know me - your presumption to preach at me is appalling.
Take it to the religion threads and leave the rest of us, who have a clear interest in this issue, alone.
I think David Ho is woefully over-estimating the capability of any nation to tackle this if it begins spreading to humans.
Adapting vaccines to new strains of flu is difficult at best, and with heavy regulation becomes nearly impossible to create enough for when it will be needed.
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