Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged governments at all levels to
attach greater importance to preventing the bird flu epidemic,
during his inspection tour on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 of two affected
regions.
Bird flu prevention was a tough job for China, said Wen when
visiting Shima Village of Ma'anshan City, east China's Anhui
Province, and Shifosi Town of Wuxue City, central China's Hubei
Province.
The two places were declared to have, respectively, confirmed
and suspected cases of bird flu last Friday.
The conditions for bird raising in most rural areas of China
were still backward, which made the prevention work especially
difficult, said Wen. He asked officials at all levels to attach
greater importance to the disease and reinforce the prevention
efforts.
China's central authorities have issued guidelines and a series
of policies on avian influenza prevention and local departments
should strictly follow and implement them, he said.
Regions with reported bird flu cases should take decisive
measures to firmly control the spread of the disease and those with
no reported cases should be well prepared for bird flu control.
The premier also urged the strict implementation of compensation
for farmers affected by bird flu.
Local governments should conduct public education campaigns
about the disease, said Wen. He said it was an important task to
prevent human infection of the disease.
Efforts should also go into agricultural production and raising
farmers' incomes, he said.
Wen also inspected the local veterinary station during his tour
and extended greetings to the veterinarians fighting to control the
disease.
So far, confirmed bird flu cases were found in Long'an County,
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China, and Wugang City,
Hunan Province, and Wuxue, Hubei. East China's Shanghai City and
Anhui Province and south China's Guangdong Province have reported
suspected cases.
(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2004)