Vaccination helps contain bird flu: expert

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 30, 2004

Vaccination helps contain bird flu: expert

Vaccination of poultry could effectively help control the spread of bird flu, said Liu Yuehuan,an expert from the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences.

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Vaccination of poultry could effectively help control the spread of bird flu, said Liu Yuehuan,an expert from the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences.

Liu said China had launched research into vaccination and swiftdiagnosis technology and had the ability to control the spread of the disease.

China confirmed its first cases of avian influenza in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on January 27. Local governments have slaughtered all poultry within three kilometers and vaccinated birds within five kilometers.

Liu is now giving lectures through the academy's e-learning Website, helping poultry farmer to know more about the disease andhow to prevent it.

Liu said since 1878 in Italy when the disease appeared for the first time, the world had accumulated a lot of knowledge on the disease. But the outbreak in Asia over the past month was notable for its rapid spread and large range.

Across Asia, millions of chickens and ducks have been killed as the virus spread through 10 countries and regions. In Vietnam and Thailand, at least 10 people have died from the disease.

Liu related the rapid spread of the disease to the transmissionchannels of the virus. He said research showed the virus could be transmitted through air and flying birds. "There might be some other ways of transmission which are unknown," said Liu.

Liu said there was no evidence of person-to-person transmissionso far, but he didn't exclude the possibility of the virus mixing with a human flu strain, creating a form that could trigger a human pandemic.

"Under previous research, the bird flu virus would not directlyinfect human beings, but we should pay close attention to reports of human infection in the two Asian countries and take active measures to cut the channels of human infection," Liu said.

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