BEIJING (AP) – The Chinese government has ordered millions of farm birds vaccinated for bird flu in part of the country where migrating geese have been found dead of the disease.
The government said Saturday that 178 bar-headed geese have been found dead of bird flu in a nature reserve in western Qinghai province. They were the first cases of bird flu that China has reported since July.
Chinese health experts worry the migrating birds, which cross the country on routes that stretch from Siberia to New Zealand, could spread the virus to the China’s vast population of domesticated ducks and geese.
The World Health Organization urged countries in the region to step up surveillance of the virus.
“There is still the possibility for this to jump to humans,” said WHO spokeswoman Maria Cheng in Beijing.
The WHO has said bird flu poses a threat to humans if it develops the ability to spread from person to person. So far most cases in humans have been traced to contact with sick birds.
The government closed all nature reserves in China to the public and ordered ducks, geese and other poultry in Qinghai vaccinated against bird flu. Farms near bird migration routes elsewhere were also ordered to vaccinate poultry against the disease.
The government rushed 3 million doses of vaccine to the province.
The Asian death toll in the latest bird flu outbreak rose to 53 last week when another fatality was reported in Vietnam. No deaths have been reported in China, and the government said the virus in Qinghai hadn’t spread to people or poultry.
The bar-headed geese were found dead in Qinghai Lake, China’s biggest saltwater lake. The area is home to a group of rare, endangered birds, including black-necked cranes and wild swans.
The first 150 dead birds were found on May 4-6, and the other 28 on May 8, the China Daily said.
A photo in the newspaper showed a health worker in a white protective suit and mask spraying disinfectant on a truck in one village in the province.
Bar-headed geese winter in India and return to the Qinghai plateau north of Tibet in the spring to breed, according to Chinese state media.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.