Since I plan to be in Shanghai in two weeks, I hope I won’t be trapped there for an eternity.
China will close its borders if it finds a single case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu there, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Saturday, while a defiant Taiwan said it would copy a patented antiviral drug.
Saving lives would be Beijing’s top priority in efforts to contain a possible outbreak of bird flu, even if it meant slowing the economy, Huang Jiefu, a vice-minister of health, was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post….
China’s sheer size and its attempts to conceal the SARS epidemic in 2003 have prompted fears among some experts that it has had more bird flu cases than officially recorded.
Are these well-founded fears these experts harbor, or has China learned from its past mistake, reformed and become a beacon of transparency and cooperation? We’ll know soon enough; even if bird flu never becomes a pandemic, it’s certainly going to take a toll in southern China, the world’s breadbasked for infectious disease, and neighboring countries.
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By East Asia Watch
China would close border to prevent spread of bird flu
Via The Peking Duck, the South China Morning Post reported today that China would close its border if it finds a single case of human to human transmission.
Saving lives would be Beijing’s top priority in efforts to contain a possible outbreak …
October 22, 2005 @ 8:04 am | Comment
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By sun bin
I thought ducks are not permitted to cross the strait. 🙂
October 22, 2005 @ 7:12 pm | Comment
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By Thomas
I really do find it hard to believe that after all of the sick birds that have been found in China, that the country where the virus first developed has not yet had one single case of human transmission.
What this vow also means is that China is in a new corner. If someone is found to have bird flu in the country, you know there will be more pressure to hide that fact from the media. Because if one case were found and publicized, China would actually have to back up its words and close the borders.
Brilliant planning…
October 22, 2005 @ 11:21 pm | Comment