SWITZERLAND: WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) CONFIRMS SPREAD OF ASIAN BIRD FLU VIRUS TO CHINA

Record ID: 643520

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) CONFIRMS SPREAD OF ASIAN BIRD FLU VIRUS TO CHINA
  • Date: 27th January 2004
  • Summary: (EU) GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 27, 2004) (WHO) 1. SOUNDBITE (English) DR. KLAUS STOHR, TEAM LEADER, WHO GLOBAL INFLUENZA PROGRAMME "We have received today information from the authorities in China that there was one outbreak of avian influenza in a duck farm in the Guangxi province. This duck farm was identified, notified to the health authorities on the 23rd of January .The national veterinary research institute made a diagnosis and we were informed today that H5N1 was found in this duck. 14,000 ducks were killed on this farm as a precautionary measure and movement of every animal in the five-miles diametre around this farm was prohibited and additional control and surveillance measures are ongoing." 0.46 2. BLACK 0.47 3. SOUNDBITE (English) STOHR "The real issue now is to avoid the emerging of a pandemic and that means to get rid, to eliminate the animal rather well. And that should be done in a safe way so that person are not going to be exposed to the virus, so that's being limited. You may have seen, I have and from my own experience I know, that the measures on the ground and in the field differ a lot from the guidelines which governments and WTO might make: people are killing these chickens without personal protection, they have no goggles, no glasses, no mask. That is certainly something that has to be changed relatively quickly in order really to keep this in the box, make sure that it's not going to get out and use the window of opportunity which is currently open." 1.32 4. BLACK 1.32 5. SOUNDBITE (English) STOHR "There are certainly calculations at how many human deaths might occur. These figures go certainly, run up to very large numbers. But these are worst case scenarios. It would be irresponsible not to consider them but we have a very good chance to deal with this outbreak now. We have to put things into proportion, you know, we want to make sure that we don't leave anything, any doubt that we that we still believe that we can control this outbreak." 2.04 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 11th February 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Reuters ID: LVACM1LMKHTQMT6RI8G6C4950NFC
  • Story Text: WHO confirms spread of Asian bird flu to China.


    A deadly bird flu virus has been found on a duck
    farm in southern China, prompting authorities to slaughter
    14,000 fowl in the surrounding area as a new health threat
    emerged in a country ravaged by SARS last year.

    Alarmed by the outbreak in the massive poultry industry
    of heavily populated southern China, the World Health
    Organisation urged vigilant surveillance and quarantine
    measures to prevent the virus from leaping to humans.

    "We have received today information from the
    authorities in China that there was one outbreak of avian
    influenza in a duck farm in the Guangxi province", said Dr
    Klaus Stohr, team leader of the WHO influenza programme.

    "14,000 ducks were killed on this farm as a
    precautionary measure and movement of every animal in the
    five-miles diameter around this farm was prohibited and
    additional control and surveillance measures are ongoing"
    he continued.

    China's Ministry of Agriculture quickly pledged to
    strengthen monitoring and increase international
    cooperation to stem the spread of the flu that has killed
    eight people in neighbouring Vietnam and Thailand on a
    rapid sprint across Asia.

    The official Xinhua news agency said the ducks on a
    farm in Guangxi province were found to have been killed by
    the H5N1 strain, which has caused the latest fatalities and
    alarmed global health agencies.

    About 14,000 poultry within a three kilometre
    (two-mile) radius of the Guangxi farm had been culled, the
    news agency said, adding that poultry five kilometre (three
    miles) from the duck farm had been quarantined.

    No avian flu infections have been found in people in
    China, authorities told WHO officials.

    "The real issue now is to avoid the emerging of a
    pandemic", Stohr said. "The measures on the ground and in
    the field differ a lot from the guidelines which
    governments and WTO might make: people are killing these
    chickens without personal protection, they have no goggles,
    no glasses, no mask. That is certainly something that has
    to be changed relatively quickly in order really to keep
    this in the box, make sure that it's not going to get out
    and use the window of opportunity which is currently open".

    Some health experts fear the bird flu virus could spark
    an epidemic worse than SARS, which crossed from animals to
    humans. SARS emerged in southern China in late 2002 and
    killed about 800 people around the world last year.

    But Stohr warned against getting things out of
    proportion, saying that while fears of large numbers of
    human casualties must be considered, he was still convinced
    the outbreak could be controlled.

    Chinese officials also were investigating the
    mysterious deaths of poultry on farms in two other
    provinces, one of them Hubei, deep in central China.

    Veterinarians suspected bird flu also caused deaths of
    chickens at a farm in Wuxue city in Hubei, and of ducks at
    a farm in Wugang city in the southern province of Hunan.

    Asia is grappling with outbreaks of bird flu that have
    appeared in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand,
    Cambodia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Laos, and Pakistan.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register