14 billion poultry to be vaccinated in China

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Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Article Date: 21 Nov 2005 - 4:00 PDT

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Chinese authoritites say they will vaccinate about 14 billion poultry, a massive undertaking. The government of China will pay for all the costs. China has seen several outbreaks of bird flu (lethal H5N1 strain) over the last few weeks. It has also recently announced the first human cases of bird flu (avian flu) infection inside the country.

China is currently producing more than one hundred million vaccine doses each day, says the Agriculture Ministry.

Since 2003 over 100 million birds worldwide have been killed as a result of bird flu, 124 humans have been infected, of which about half have died.

China's stocks of farmed poultry are kept mainly in people's back yards. There is constant human contact with the birds. This environment makes the fight against the spread of bird flu among poultry stocks much more difficult to contain. The fact that chickens and ducks run around loose in and out of people's yards and are in constant contact with various humans increases the chances of humans becoming infected.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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