A recent rise in the number of human cases of avian influenza reported in
cities is a dangerous sign of things to come, Zhong Nanshan said yesterday in
Beijing.
In Viet Nam, Thailand and Indonesia, the main source of the virus is
spreading through dead poultry, Zhong, president of the Chinese Medical
Association, said at an international conference.
Zhong Nanshan,
director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases.
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However, in China, some 16 human cases of bird flu have resulted without any
direct contact with ill or dead poultry, he noted. Eleven victims have died of
the epidemic.
For example, no evidence has emerged that human cases found in Sanming of
East China's Fujian Province, Guangzhou of South China's Guangdong Province and
Shanghai, came from eating or coming into contact with diseased poultry.
But the two cases reported in Shanghai and Guangdong have been linked to
poultry markets.
"People don't just contract the virus through contact with dead poultry. They
can also get the virus from contact with live poultry and migratory birds,"
Zhong said.
"Some poultry, especially ducks, are possibly virus carriers and might
transmit the virus to human beings," he noted.
This is why the government should only allow poultry with licences to be sold
in poultry markets in the cities, Zhong added.
Stronger monitoring of poultry, wild birds and human beings should be
undertaken to control the virus from spreading.
He warned it is also a dangerous sign that the virus had been found in
mammals, such as cats. He is worried the human flu and the avian flu might
combine in mammals like pigs, and then the avian influenza virus would spread
more easily to humans. In China, the virus is only found in poultry and human
beings. No other mammals have been reported as carriers, he said.
He also said the people who died in Guangzhou and Shanghai could have
survived if they had seen doctors earlier.
The victims were 32 and 29 years old and they still succumbed to the disease.
So it is important to educate the public to go and see the doctor as soon as
they get symptoms, such as a high fever.