China Declares Emergency Measures to Curb Bird Flu (moved from ATSNN), page 1

China sounded a high alert after finding that the 178 wild geese deaths reported on May 4 were due to the H5N1 strain of virus. This is the same virus which has killed at least 53 people in south east Asia since Aug 2003. The Lake Qinghai area, where the birds were found has been sealed of for 10 days.

news.bbc.co.uk
China has ordered nationwide emergency measures to try to stop the spread of bird flu after discovering that wild geese had been killed by the virus.

Agriculture officials say the migratory birds may have brought a more virulent flu strain into China from South East Asia, Xinhua official news agency said.

Tests confirmed that the geese found dead in Qinghai province had been infected with the H5N1 virus.

The virus has killed at least 53 people in South East Asia since late 2003.

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So far, there have been no reports of the disease spotted in Qinghai spreading to human beings or fowl. Last, time it spread to poultry millions of birds had to be culled. The WHO has warned that this strain of virus could mutate and spread easily among humans. Though officials have said that the controls introduced would be effective in curbing the spread of the virus, given China's track record in hiding the SARS epidemic, I am a tad skeptical.

Related News Links:
portal.telegraph.co. uk
www.ptinews.com

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