Bird flu situation stable in southern China

cctv.com 01-30-2004 09:38

In the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region where the country's first outbreak of bird flu was confirmed two days ago. Thousands of birds have been slaughtered as a preventive measure. Local authorities are closely monitoring the situation and say their task now is to prevent the deadly virus from spreading.

In Long'an county in Guangxi, about 20 birds died. The killer was soon confirmed: the deadly H5N1 virus.

Behind a cordon line in the Long'an County of Guangxi Province, there's no sign of human or animal life. Farmers were evacuated and birds were culled. All poultry within a three-kilometer radius of the farm were slaughtered. 40-year-old Lu Xiuhai lost 40 chickens. But this economic losses are limited.

A farmer said, "It's not a big problem. We don't depend on raising chickens. We have many other sources of income. It doesn't matter."

About 14,000 birds have been slaughtered in the surrounding area. The local government has allocated about 50,000 US dollars to compensate the farmers' losses.

Local officials say with effective quarantine measures, the situation is stable now.

Gan Qiangzhong, deputy chief of Long'an County, said, "Our main task now is to quarantine the entire county. If there's no recurrence of the disease, human health will be guaranteed."

Veterinarians are working around the clock to quarantine the poultry within a five-kilometer radius of the affected farm.

Meanwhile, authorities have intensified safety inspection and quarantine measures for poultry sold on the market. Birds from other places are still available on the local market. but for the time being, there are few buyers.

The bird flu has brought huge losses to Asian countries. Governments in the region have vowed to combine their forces in fighting the deadly virus. But it's too early to tell how it will affect regional economies that are still recovering from the SARS epidemic.

Editor:Xiao  Source:CCTV.com