China warns of shortfalls in bird flu fight

BEIJING, Oct 5 (Reuters) China still faces serious shortcomings in its bird flu prevention preparations and government departments must do better ahead of the autumn season, a vice agriculture minister said today.

''At present, the bird flu virus situation in our country is generally stable, but as we go into the peak outbreak season in the autumn, the prevention situation is still serious,'' Yin Chengjie told a provincial bird flu meeting.

''There still exist weak links in our bird flu fight work,'' he was quoted as saying in a statement posted on the Agriculture Ministry's Web site (www.agri.gov.cn).

China this week announced two poultry outbreaks in the remote northwest, leading to the culling of thousands of birds, in the first reported cases since early August.

Some provinces were preparing too slowly, did not have enough staff, vaccines or funds and the problem was especially acute in villages, Yin said, without naming specific parts of the country.

It was important to step up measures ahead of the autumn, when migrating birds -- which have been blamed for outbreaks in the past -- would pass through China again, he said.

''We must soberly recognise the seriousness of the current fight against bird flu and not underestimate the seriousness of the work,'' Yin told the meeting, which was attended by China's top veterinarian, Jia Youling.

HIGH ALERT Yin said the provinces must ready their emergency response systems and ensure there were enough good quality vaccines.

He said his ministry would dispatch teams to the countryside to ensure measures being taken were up to scratch.

''We cannot lower our guard,'' he said.

The H5N1 virus has spread through Asia's poultry flocks and infected large numbers of wild birds, particularly water fowl, which can act as carriers of the virus.

Bird flu has since spread to Europe, Africa and South Asia, killing at least 148 people worldwide since late 2003, when the virus resurfaced in Southeast Asia.

China has admitted to holes in its bird flu prevention strategy, ranging from faulty vaccines to ignorance in its vast countryside, where most of the country's 1.3 billion people live.

This week, the official Xinhua news agency reported on a survey by the Chinese Health Education Association that said only eight per cent of respondents viewed flu of any kind as being a ''serious infectious disease''.

Almost a quarter of those polled had no idea flu outbreaks had to be reported to government authorities.

The government has vowed to punish local officials who cover up bird flu outbreaks, after being strongly criticised by the international community for initially covering up the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that broke out in 2002.

Scientists fear the bird flu virus could mutate into a form that could pass easily from person to person, sparking a global pandemic.

With the world's biggest poultry population and millions of backyard birds roaming free, China is at the centre of the fight against bird flu.

There have been 21 human cases, including 14 deaths, from the virus in China and dozens of outbreaks in birds that have led to the culling of millions of fowl.

REUTERS BDP BST1354