ProMed: AVIAN INFLUENZA (12): CHINA, HUMAN, ANIMAL INFECTIONS

A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Fri 6 Feb 2009
Source: Reuters [edited]
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUKPEK142436>


China defends bird flu vaccination plan despite deaths
------------------------------------------------------
China's Ministry of Agriculture on Friday [6 Feb 2009] defended its
bird flu vaccination programme, stating there had been no outbreaks
since last June [2008] despite a number of human cases, some fatal,
this year. Human cases and the appearance of dead wild birds in Hong
Kong have caused some experts and media reports to question whether
the virus is widespread but undetected in China.

A total of 5 people died of bird flu in China in January [2009], in
regions far removed from each other and in which there were no
reported cases of bird flu in birds. In addition, 3 others have
become ill, of which 2 have recovered, a toddler infected in Hunan
and a young man in Guizhou. Apart from the discovery of a case during
routine sampling in eastern China's Jiangsu province in December
[2008], Chinese testing has not detected any bird flu since June [2008].

The Ministry of Agriculture said in a report on its Web site that the
strain found in Jiangsu was a variant, requiring the modification of
the vaccine programme in the surrounding provinces of Zhejiang,
Shanghai, Anhui and Shandong.

Meanwhile, 2 ducks and a goose found in Hong Kong have tested
positive for H5N1, the strain of bird flu that can infect humans.
Hong Kong closed its Mai Po nature preserve as a precaution for 21
days from Friday [6 Feb 2009], after a dead grey heron found there
also tested positive for bird flu.

Hong Kong authorities are still testing 14 other dead birds found
last week on Lantau Island. "We're checking water currents" to see if
the birds were washed ashore from mainland China, a government
spokeswoman said.

China has vaccinated aggressively since bird flu first reappeared
among humans in Asia in 2003. But vaccination does not eliminate the
virus. In 2008, China reported 6 outbreaks of bird flu that killed
9000 birds and led to the culling of 590 000 birds.

[Byline: Lucy Hornby and Tan Ee Lyn]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall

[Following the information on human cases in China without data on
animal outbreaks, and the suspicion that dead infected birds were
being washed ashore in Hong Kong from mainland China (allegedly
coming from China's Pearl River Delta), ProMED-mail included, in its
posting 20090205.0514 of 5 Feb 2009, the following comment: "The
Chinese authorities may consider publishing details of their recent
active surveillance activities undertaken to investigate the source
of said human infections." The current posting may be seen as China's
initial response. Additional details on the number and locations of
investigations applied and samples tested, will help.

China's last (2) reports to the OIE on H5N1 in animals date back to
19 Dec 2008 (Immediate Notification) and 26 Dec 2008 (Follow-up
Report 1). They addressed 2 outbreaks in Jiangsu; see, including map, at
<http://www.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=event_summary&reportid=7623>.
- Mod.AS