The director of China Animal Epidemiology Center told Xinhua News Agency on Thursday that, "We have enhanced surveillance measures, strengthened prevention ability in high-risk areas and improved contingency plans to prevent avian influenza."

Huang Baoxu is attending the 2nd Regional Meeting on Avian Influenza Control in Asia in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which opened on Wednesday.

The three-day event was organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Vietnamese government.

Huang said the government and involved sectors have taken concrete measures to prevent bird flu outbreaks in China, assisting farmers in prevention work, setting up an avian influenza reference laboratory and national animal epidemiology center for monitoring and surveillance, and establishing a prevention system.

The government has put great efforts into surveillance of breeding farms, live bird markets, border regions, domesticated bird populations near migratory bird habitats, river networks and other high-risk areas. The surveillance focuses on chickens and waterfowls.

According to the National Contingency Plan for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, all susceptible poultry flocks in threatened or high-risk areas must be vaccinated.

Another delegate, Dr. Li Yanbing from the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, said that the H5N2 inactivated vaccine is widely used in China and very effective. It played an important role in prevention and control in 2004.

Dr. Lin Zhi Xiong, senior veterinarian from the Animal Quarantine Lab in Guangzhou Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, said China has taken strict measures in the export and import of poultry to prevent the spread of avian influenza.

Huang said that China has also been cooperating with other countries and international organizations. Last year, it hosted a regional meeting attended by Southeast Asian nations on the prevention and control of bird flu and organized international training on vaccine export and utilization.

"We expect more international cooperation in this field in the years to come," said Huang.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2005)