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)