China promises co-operation over bird flu pandemic fears
The pledge came as Pacific rim experts met in Australia for a second day to discuss ways of fighting the virus.
“From Sars, we see that no information can be hidden”, China’s disease control director Qi Xiaoqiu said yesterday while visiting the United States.
“We have policies to encourage farmers to report possible outbreaks.”
Meanwhile, US President George Bush outlined a €5.9 billion strategy to prepare for the danger of a pandemic influenza outbreak, saying he wanted to stockpile enough vaccine to protect 20 million Americans against an illness caused by the current strain of bird flu.
The Bush administration, battered by criticism over its hurricane response, is getting the US prepared for a possible travel ban and other restrictions in the event of a worldwide flu outbreak.
The president also said the US must approve liability protection for the makers of lifesaving vaccines.
He said the number of US vaccine manufacturers has plummeted because the industry has been hit with a flood of lawsuits.
Mr Bush said no one knows when or where a deadly strain of flu will strike but “at some point we are likely to face another pandemic.”
The president, in a speech at the National Institutes of Health, said the US must be prepared to detect outbreaks anywhere in the world, stockpile vaccines and anti- viral drugs and be ready to respond at the federal, state and local levels in the event that a pandemic reaches the United States.
China was heavily criticised in the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome for initially covering up the illness. Now Beijing says it is committed to quickly investigating and reporting possible bird flu cases to the public and world health groups.
China has reported three bird flu outbreaks in poultry over the past month. No human cases have been reported.
At least 62 people have died of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in south-east Asia since 2003, and concern is growing that H5N1 could mutate into a human flu virus that could spark a global pandemic.
China’s domestic poultry population is more than 14 billion, Mr Qi said - 50% of Asia’s total - and more than half the birds are raised in small, scattered, often rural farms, making detection and treatment a challenge.
Mr Qi said China has provided subsidies for farmers who quickly report sick birds to authorities. Once a case is found, Mr Qi said, officials kill all birds within two miles and vaccinate all birds from two to three miles.
“There is great possibility for avian influenza breakouts in China,” Mr Qi said. “The Chinese government is very much committed to its prevention and control.”
In Brisbane, Australia, a UN official said fighting bird flu in impoverished south-east Asian nations could cost €82m over the next two-to-three years.
“If the disease spreads from eastern Europe into Africa, then just for emergency support we’ll require an additional €60m,” said Subhash Morvaria from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s regional office in Bangkok.
