China Tuesday donated relief materials to help fight the bird
flu outbreak in neighboring Vietnam.
The materials, worth 200,000 yuan (US$24,000), included six tons
of disinfectants, 4,000 protective suits and 5,000 sacks to bag
chickens.
Over 2,500 communes in 57 cities and provinces in Vietnam have
been struck by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which killed and
led to the culling of over 38.1 million birds, 15 percent of the
country's poultry.
Vietnam has also reported 23 confirmed human cases of H5N1
infection.
The assistance was initiated by China's Ministry of
Agriculture.
By Tuesday, 16 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities had reported outbreaks of bird flu, but so far no
human cases had been reported.
Chinese Vice-Minister of Agriculture Qi Jingfa, who is in
Vietnam attending fishery negotiations, attended the handing-over
ceremony held by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry with members of
the Chinese embassy to Vietnam.
(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2004)