China's Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday refuted a rumor on
the Internet spread by a Japanese virologist saying China has had
several hundred human deaths from bird flu.
"The rumor is absolutely groundless," MOH spokesman Mao Qun'an
told Xinhua in an interview.
"MOH has confirmed from the World Health Organization (WHO) Beijing office that
there was no Japanese expert in WHO's mission in Hunan Province
early this month," said Mao.
All the reports quoting this so-called Japanese expert said that
China has had several hundred human fatalities from bird flu were
unreasonable and without foundation, he stressed.
China so far reported three confirmed human cases of bird flu,
including two deaths in east China's Anhui Province and one
recovered case in central province of Hunan.
In the areas where bird flu outbreaks occurred, health
authorities have put all the people who closely contacted with sick
and dead poultry under strict medical observation. Surveillance,
reporting and separate treatment of fever and respiratory cases
have also been strengthened, said Mao.
MOH has made timely report to WHO, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and
some countries on each confirmed case and has immediately released
the information to the public as well, he said.
The cooperation between the Chinese government and WHO on bird
flu control has been going smoothly, a spokesman at WHO
headquarters was quoted by Mao as saying.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday refuted rumors
that China was hiding human cases of bird flu.
Dick Thompson, an official of WHO, told reporters that
concerning some news reports in German newspapers, he wanted to say
that WHO did not believe that China was hiding any human cases of
bird flu.
WHO believed that China was notifying the organization as
rapidly as it could and it was being as transparent as possible in
this outbreak, he said.
The Japanese expert named Masato Tashiro said last week that in
Germany that bird flu has killed 300 people in China, including
seven cases caused by human-to-human transmission, according to
reports on the Internet portals including "news scientist" and
"WorldNet daily".
New Bird Flu Outbreak Reported in Inner
Mongolia
China's Ministry of Agriculture on Friday confirmed one bird flu
outbreak in the Zalantun city of north China's Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region.
It said in a statement that 246 fouls died last Sunday in
Zalantun and they were confirmed by a state avian flu lab as H5N1
subtype highly pathogenic bird flu cases.
The Ministry of Agriculture and local government are handling
the outbreak in accordance with the emergency plans. Local
veterinary departments have culled 16,567 poultry within three
kilometers of the affected area.
(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2005)