Beijing Saturday staged a mock exercise to take emergency action
to deal with a fictional bird flu outbreak reported on its
outskirts.
On receiving a bird flu report from Taihou village in Pinggu
District, the Beijing municipal animal disease control headquarters
immediately sent experts, veterinarians, health inspectors and
supervisors to the scene, and had areas surrounding the affected
areas quarantined.
Checkpoints were set up shortly thereafter on roads three
kilometers away from the affected spots, and disinfection was
carried out on a large scale.
Epidemiology teams were then sent to the spot to confirm the
outbreak. Upon its confirmation, the headquarters issued orders to
close off the hit areas and to kill all poultry within a radius of
three kilometers.
Poultry droppings were disposed of and poultry in areas three to
eight kilometers away from the attacked spots were examined and
vaccinated.
Those working and living in the affected areas were quarantined
and examined.
Experts from the Agriculture Ministry called the mock exercise
"successful", saying that it followed proper procedures and
required methods.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2004)