Health

'Grave' China Bird Flu Situation

October 28, 2005 / 11:02 AM EDT / CBS/AP

China and Thailand on Friday ruled out bird flu in several human illnesses but the region's anxiety mounted as officials called for measures to prevent an outbreak that they warned could infect millions of people.

"The situation right now is extremely grave," said Jia Youling, China's chief veterinary officer. He warned that it was only a matter of time before his country has a human infection if it fails to stop more outbreaks among its vast poultry flocks.

Chinese authorities said tests confirmed that a 12-year-old girl who died in a village with an outbreak didn't have the virus. And Thai health officials said three French tourists who were suspected of contracting bird flu were found not to have the disease.

The virus has killed at least 62 people across Asia since late 2003.

Most of the people infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu have had contact with sick birds. Health experts fear that if it mutates into a form that is easily transmissible between people, it could spark a pandemic, possibly killing millions.

In related developments:

A second manufacturer is beginning mass production of a vaccine to protect against bird flu, and the Senate moved Thursday to invest far more, $8 billion, on preparations in case the influenza strain ever sparks a worldwide epidemic. Before the Senate acted, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt awarded a $62.5 million contract to Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron Corp. to manufacture bird flu vaccine for a national stockpile. A competitor, Sanofi-Aventis of Paris, began manufacturing $100 million worth of a similar vaccine last month.

In Indonesia, authorities were testing chickens that died last week on Bali. Indonesian Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono warned that the virus could spread quickly through the densely populated archipelago since wild pigeons and other birds already were infected. "The condition (of bird flu) is critical because it has been found to have infected pigeons," he said. "We can all imagine how long and how far pigeons can fly." Bird flu has killed four people and sickened three others in Indonesia so far this year.

France's Health Ministry said it could not confirm the Thai statement, but tests in France made public Thursday showed that one of the tourists was free of bird flu.

Australia's health minister warned that his nation might have to close its borders in the event of a human epidemic, while a Hong Kong lawmaker suggested arming the public to shoot migratory birds. Health Minister Tony Abbott said the island continent of 20 million people would shut itself off from the rest of the world if a human flu pandemic breaks out. "The best way of ensuring that you don't get infected with something like this, in the absence of an effective vaccine, would be isolation," Abbott told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

In Hong Kong, lawmaker Tommy Cheung proposed allowing the public to carry guns and shoot migratory birds suspected of carrying the virus. "Perhaps what we should do is give each person a gun," said Cheung, who has a reputation for making unusual proposals, "and when we see a migrating bird, we can just shoot it down, so Hong Kong would be a much safer place."

JIn China, officials went on television to try to reassure the public, saying they were capable of stopping the virus. They said human cases would be quarantined and warned that anyone who tries to hide and outbreak would be punished.

ia also warned that the huge numbers of wild birds migrating through China in coming weeks made it unrealistic to believe that the country could "absolutely eliminate" the virus.

The country has reported three outbreaks over the past two weeks that have killed hundreds of chickens and ducks, but the government says there have been no human infections.

"Prevention and control of bird outbreaks is of chief importance. If we fail to do that well, then sooner or later there will be transmission from birds to humans," Jia, the veterinary official, said at a news conference shown live on national television.

China's latest outbreak occurred in a village in the central province of Hunan where the 12-year-old girl died after developing a high fever.

Chen Xianyi, vice director of the Health Ministry's department of disease control, said tests showed she died of pneumonia.

"The test results were negative" for bird flu, Chen said.

Still, a WHO spokeswoman said the U.N. agency was waiting for official word from Beijing.

"We'd like to know what tests were conducted," said spokeswoman Aphaluck Bhatiasevi.

In Bangkok, the Health Ministry reported that lab tests showed three French tourists who became ill after visiting Thailand were not carrying the virus.

Their cases caused alarm when initial tests on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion suggested they might be carrying the virus. But more testing in Paris found no virus, the ministry announced.

More from CBS News