Two experts from the Netherlands have arrived in Beijing to
assist China's campaign against the highly pathogenic avian
influenza, said the World Health Organization (WHO) China office
spokesman Roy Wadia Monday.
He said the experts would offer advice on safety issues
regarding culling and other issues, including assessment of the
monitoring system and animal vaccination.
Wadia did not release the experts' names, but said these experts
had recently assisted authorities in Vietnam, as the country
grappled with its own outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian
influenza.
"Their expertise was also utilized during the Netherlands'
outbreak of H7N7 avian influenza in 2003," he said.
Sources with the Chinese Health Ministry said the experts
arrived in Beijing on Jan. 30 and had not yet asked to visit the
locations where the bird flu was reported.
"The WHO is in the process of identifying more international
experts across a range of disciplines so as to form a joint mission
with the Chinese side," Wadia said, declining to tell when the
joint mission would be set up and start operations.
China reported its first confirmed case of H5N1 bird flu on
Jan.27 and informed the UN Food and Agricultural Organization and
the WHO. The Chinese side had expressed its willingness to
cooperate with international agencies to fight the disease.
As of 8 a.m. Feb. 2, China had reported three confirmed bird flu
cases in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Hunan and Hubei
Provinces. Zhejiang, Yunnan, Henan, Guangdong and Anhui provinces
as well as Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Shanghai
Municipality reported suspected bird flu cases in separate
locations.
(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2004)