Originally published December 3 2005
Three case of bird flu in humans now reported in China
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
In addition to a nine-year-old boy who survived his bout with avian influenza recently, Chinese health officials report that his young sister and a poultry worker from Anhui have died from the virus.
China reported its first three confirmed human cases of bird flu Wednesday as the government raced to vaccinate billions of chickens, ducks and other poultry in a massive effort to stop the spread of the virus.
The Health Ministry confirmed two human cases in the central province of Hunan and one in the eastern province of Anhui, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The fatalities were a 12-year-old girl in Hunan and a 24-year-old female poultry worker in Anhui, said Roy Wadia, a WHO spokesman in Beijing.
The third case was the girl's 9-year-old brother, who fell ill but recovered.
China initially said the girl, her brother and a schoolteacher who fell ill at the same time were negative for the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu.
China has reported 11 outbreaks in chickens and ducks over the past month nationwide, prompting authorities to destroy millions of birds in an effort to contain the virus.
The government also announced an ambitious effort Tuesday to vaccinate all the country's more than 14 billion farm birds.
All farm birds in the province were ordered vaccinated early this month, said Fu Jingwu, deputy director of the provincial Animal Health Supervision and Management Bureau.
The province also has destroyed more than 15 million chickens, ducks and other birds.
Also Wednesday, the State Council, which is China's Cabinet, discussed enacting regulations on bird flu prevention, epidemic monitoring and emergency contingency plans, state television said.
The council also said it would offer tax breaks and subsidies to help counter the effects of bird flu outbreaks.
Meanwhile, government ministers at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea, urged more regional and international cooperation and response to combat bird flu.
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