Three hours. That's the maximum it should take for a bird-flu
outbreak anywhere in the country to be reported to Beijing.
The exacting timeline is part of a contingency plan hammered out
by the Ministry of Agriculture to counter possible outbreaks of the
potentially-fatal influenza this autumn and winter.
According to the plan made available to China Daily
yesterday, an outbreak in any county or city must be reported to
provincial authorities within 2 hours; and after confirmation, the
provincial veterinary bureau must report to the ministry within an
hour.
Any one can report an outbreak to a veterinary bureau, and
inform authorities about any misconduct by a department or person
in disease prevention, the document said.
It added that drills should be conducted for emergency operation
teams consisting of veterinary and health workers and servicemen
and volunteers mobilized if necessary.
The measures come at a time when the world is worried about an
impending pandemic. In the latest cause of alarm, the deadly strain
of the virus H5N1 was confirmed in a dead parrot in the United
Kingdom.
The virus is spread by migrating wild birds and has recently
been found in Russia, Turkey and Romania, spurring efforts around
the globe to contain its spread.
While H5N1 is easily transmitted between birds, it is hard for
humans to contract. But experts fear it could mutate into a form of
flu that is easily transmitted between humans and cause a pandemic
that could kill millions.
In Beijing yesterday, the Ministry of Health denied earlier
media reports that China would close its borders if a single case
of human-to-human transmission of bird flu occurred.
(
China Daily October 25, 2005)