No humans in China have been infected with the bird flu virus, said Vice Minister of Health Wang Longde today at a press conference on the fight against the disease. The press conference was sponsored by the State Council Information Office on February 5, 2004.

Wang explained that the possibility of human beings being infected with the virus, which is primarily associated with fowl, depends on many factors. He pointed out that poultry in both Japan and the Republic of Korea have been hit by bird flu outbreaks, but no human infections have been found so far.

A strong monitoring system is key to identifying and reporting any possible human infections, said Wang. He stated that China’s public health system has beefed up its monitoring and reporting of human epidemics since the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) last year. If a human is suspected of being infected with bird flu, the local hospital receiving the case now has an established method of reporting it immediately to the higher authorities.

After the bird flu outbreak among poultry was confirmed on the Chinese mainland, health workers were sent immediately to affected areas to put anyone having contact with the infected poultry under close observation and control. When the disease broke out, for example, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s Dingdang Town, health workers visited the 31 people who had had contact with sick birds twice a day, taking their temperatures and examining them for any other symptoms. So far, 1,418 people in epidemic-stricken areas have been put under observation, with not a single case of human infection confirmed.

Wang said the Ministry of Health and the WHO have worked together to improve nationwide flu surveillance since April 2002. Specimens have been collected from some 22,000 flu patients and 1,459 strains of flu viruses were identified. Most of these viruses belong to the Type A3 family, reported Wang, with very few other types appearing. No H5N1 bird flu virus has been identified in humans in China yet.

Wang announced, “The Ministry of Health issued an A-class emergency plan nationwide on preventing human infection of bird flu before the Chinese Lunar New Year, Spring Festival.” The plan includes measures to detect, quarantine and treat suspected cases as quickly as possible. Anyone having close contact with a suspected case will be quarantined under medical observation. Others having contact may also be monitored.

Vice Minister Wang said that existing human flu vaccines are not effective in preventing infection with the H5N1 strain. The Chinese Representative Office of the WHO estimates it will take at least six months before a human H5N1 vaccine becomes available.

(China.org.cn February 5, 2004)