China closes poultry processing plants in areas hit by bird flu

Introduction: first exposure news agency, Beijing, Feb 1 - with the elimination of infected individuals and forced disinfection, China has closed poultry processing plants in the area of avian influenza attack to prevent the further spread of avian influenza At the same time, China is also trying to prevent the resurgence of another deadly virus, SARS A doctor in Guangdong was last week identified as the fourth SARS case in China since July last year The government has shut down poultry processing plants in Guangxi, Hunan and Hubei that have been identified as areas affected by bird flu, Xinhua reported Xinhua also quoted an official from China's Ministry of agriculture as saying the bird flu epidemic had been brought under control But the WHO is not so sure "It seems that the epidemic is spreading very fast, especially in Guangdong Province," said Roy Wadia, a spokesman for the World Health Organization in Beijing "We are very concerned about the possibility of new cases," he said in a telephone interview According to the Xinhua news agency, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has issued a document to close the poultry market in Guangxi and prohibit poultry trade Even in areas where there is no infection (within Guangxi Province), the poultry market will be closed The deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus, first discovered in December last year, has now spread to 10 Asian countries, killing at least eight people in Vietnam and Thailand, and killing tens of millions of chickens, ducks and other birds There are six new cases of suspected avian influenza in China: 2 in Guangdong, 1 in Hubei, 2 in Anhui and 1 in Shanghai There are no reports of human infection with avian influenza Poultry exports from the six provinces where avian influenza was found (including suspected) have stopped Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last week launched a campaign to stop the spread of the virus, calling for timely updates of the epidemic in affected areas, compensation for farmers forced to slaughter poultry and prevention of new virus variants from infecting humans A picture broadcast Sunday by CCTV showed workers in white coats and masks spraying disinfectant on the farm and immunizing poultry According to Beijing News, workers left the farm in Maanshan, Anhui Province after a large number of birds died 5tt China was expected to produce 10.1 million tons of poultry meat annually in 2004 Health experts believe that because 80% of these chickens, ducks or other poultry are raised in the farmhouses close to the breeders (farmers), the control of the spread of the epidemic is really worrying 5tt the World Health Organization says the possibility that China can stop the spread of avian influenza is gradually diminishing The group asked China to provide more information about vaccine immunization and worried that the Chinese government would cover up the situation 5tt