- (AFP) -- China reported four new suspected outbreaks
of deadly bird flu in three new regions, bringing the total number of confirmed
and suspected outbreaks to seven.
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- The announcement confirmed fears the epidemic could be
widespread in the world's second biggest poultry producer.
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- "New suspected bird flu cases were discovered in
Anhui (province), Shanghai city and Guangdong (province)," the Xinhua
news agency said Friday.
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- Two of the four new outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu were in
eastern China's Anhui province, while one was in the eastern coastal metropolis
of Shanghai and the other in the southern province of Guangdong, Xinhua
said.
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- China Friday also officially confirmed two previously
suspected outbreaks of bird flu in central China's Hunan and Hubei provinces,
Xinhua said.
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- Earlier this week, a confirmed outbreak of bird flu was
also reported in the southern province of Guangxi, bordering Vietnam.
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- The new suspected cases were located in Anhui's Guangde
county and Ma'anshan city's Yushan district; and Shanghai's suburban Nanhui
district and Guangdong province's Jiedong county.
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- "Local officials have immediately taken measures
to gather and kill (the poultry) and order vaccinations ...," Xinhua
said.
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- Details of the outbreak locations were not given and
it was unclear whether they were chicken or duck farms.
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- But Xinhua added: "The epidemic has been brought
under control. No infections have been discovered in humans."
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- The revelation came as the World Health Organisation
warned earlier Friday that the scale of the bird flu outbreak in China
could be far larger than previously reported, as it urged Beijing to ensure
prevention measures are in place.
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- The UN agency said given China's size and its vast poultry
industry, there was only a "small window of opportunity" to prevent
a major outbreak of the disease which has killed 10 people and spread to
10 Asian nations.
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- "It's entirely possible that there are outbreaks
elsewhere (in China) that have not been reported," said Beijing-based
WHO spokesman Roy Wadia.
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- "This could cause the virus to spread faster."
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- China, which has denied allegations it is the source
of the region's bird flu troubles, produced 9.8 million metric tonnes of
poultry in 2003 making it the second largest producer in the world, according
to US figures.
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- So far officials have reported only around 200,000 chickens
or ducks culled compared to millions in neighbouring Vietnam and Thailand.
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- The WHO has warned that while humans have so far only
caught the disease through contact with infected birds or their droppings,
bird flu could claim millions of lives if it mutates into a more contagious
form.
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- Chinese people's close proximity to farm animals in farms
and live animal markets coupled with the estimated billions of poultry
in the country can increase the chances of that happening, WHO experts
warned.
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- The outbreak on the outskirts of Shanghai is located
just 50 kilometers -- an hour's drive -- from the densely populated downtown
Shanghai.
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- Wadia Friday urged China to step up prevention measures.
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- "There's a very small window of opportunity at this
time closing very fast, so it's very important to take swift action,"
Wadia said.
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- Wadia said the surveillance system in China may be the
problem, rather than authorities not reporting cases.
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- "It's a huge country and it's very difficult for
the surveillance system to go everywhere," he said.
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- A Beijing-based international health expert who declined
to be named also said Friday he believed other areas might be affected.
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- He noted bird flu outbreaks likely occured previously
in China but went unreported.
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- "This probably happened in different times of the
year and a lot of places have ducks wiped out and farmers just think it's
bad luck, but because of the international attention now, they're starting
to expose cases," the expert said.
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- So far China has not reported any human cases of bird
flu, but the expert said mainland Chinese could have been infected, but
were not diagnosed.
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- "How often do people get flu symptoms and their
samples get sent to a laboratory to get tested," he said. "And
there are only a few places in China where you can do this testing."
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