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Ministry sends open letter to farmers on bird flu
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-11 08:34
China's Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday informed the country's 800
million rural residents of the ways to prevent and control bird flu through the
issuance of an open letter.
In the letter posted on the official website of the ministry, it said in
simple language that the epidemic avian flu has hit 15 countries and regions
since September, and is yet to be brought under control.
Four provincial areas in China, including the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region in north China, Anhui Province in east China, Liaoning Province in
northwest China and Hunan Province in centralChina, have been hit by the
epidemic, according to the letter.
The ministry said the prevention and control of the disease in China faces a
"very grave situation," and advised the farmers to enhance their awareness of
the disease, improve their capability to prevent the further spread of the
epidemic, and take action to prevent any human infection of the bird flu virus.
In the letter, the ministry tells chicken farmers how to keep their henhouses
clean, and introduces the basic symptoms of chickens already catching the bird
flu.
Farmers were also urged to have their chickens vaccinated and not to buy fake
vaccines, and be quick in reporting suspected cases to local vet stations or
government departments in charge ofpoultry husbandry.
To date, China has reported four cases of H5N1 bird flu outbreak. Health
authorities fear that the more the H5N1 virus spreads, the greater chance it has
to mutate -- picking up genes from ordinary flu that could make it highly
contagious among humans.
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