The New Dominion

Internet-based media in both Chinese and English are buzzing with newly released information regarding an outbreak of the infamous H5N1 bird flu among poultry populations in Turpan. The announcement by China’s state-run press agency, the Xinhua News Network, was published on the afternoon of the 4th and can be found at this link. Here’s a quick translation:

Xinhua Network, Beijing

On December 29th of last year, a suspected outbreak of the bird flu was discovered in the Putao Community on Gaochang Road in the city of Turpan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. On the 3rd of January, 2008, the National Bird Flu Research Laboratory positively diagnosed the virus as a strain of the H5N1 high-pathogenicity Asian bird flu.

The outbreak resulted in the death of 4850 poultry; 29383 birds were culled as a preventative measure.

After the outbreak, the Ministry of Agriculture and the XUAR People’s Government immediately organized and implemented multiple emergency response measures in accordance with the relevant suspected-case requirements. Currently, the epidemic is under effective control.

Reuters, eager to continue tracking the progress of what has been touted as the precursor to the next “world pandemic,” has picked up on the story and ais republishing the Xinhua information alongside additional information to illustratethe outbreak’s larger context. Their article on the subject notes, for example, that the last outbreak resulted in the infection of a father and son pair in Jiangsu province in early December, leading to the death of the 24-year old son.

Interestingly, the article on the outbreak in the China Daily, Xinhua’s English language mouthpiece, adds a few more tidbits of information not present on Xinhua’s Mandarin version translated above.

Vice Minister of Agriculture Yin Chengjie said in early December that the possibilities of regional bird flu outbreaks were “very high” in the winter and coming spring, and the situation was “not optimistic” as there had been cases of poultry infection in a “relatively large contaminated area”.

The Spring Festival in early February is drawing near and more poultry will be transported and slaughtered for festival feasts, which could facilitate transmission of the disease.

Local departments have been ordered to step up immunization measures ahead of the festival, and monitor bird activities along the border and in water areas by increasing sample test numbers and frequencies of examinations.

First, some pessimistic words by the Vice Minister of Agriculture spoken around the time of the Jiangsu man’s death. The minister’s “its only gets worse from here” forecast a month ago seems verified by this rather large poultry outbreak, which thankfully appears not to have jumped to any human individuals. However, increased contact with poultry during upcoming festivals adds an unwelcome element to the unpredictable cocktail of factors that determines the rise or fall of a deadly epidemic. The best thing the government can do at this point is heighten awareness through more frequent and comprehensive testings; Xinjiang residents and expats, on the other hand, should probably stay away from poultry farms and other likely locations with piles of dead chickens.