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Biosecurity Briefing
H5N1 Outbreak Among Vaccinated Ducks in China Reportedly Under Control By Molly D’Esopo, September 21, 2007 On September 18, 2007, Yahoo! News reported that an H5N1 influenza outbreak among farm-raised ducks in the Panyu district of Guangdong, China “has been brought under effective control,” according to agricultural officials in China. The agricultural ministry reported that “As of September 17, 36,130 ducks have been exterminated and destroyed.” The agricultural ministry also reported that “emergency vaccinations have taken place in areas threatened by the epidemic that could be easily infected and all fowl in the infected area have been exterminated.”1 A related Agence France-Presse (AFP) article reports that “more than 9,000 ducks that died…had been vaccinated against the disease. The director of Guangdong’s Animal Epidemic Prevention Center, Yu Yedong, stated that the ducks had received one vaccination against H5N1, which was 65% effective and the birds needed a second [vaccination] to make in 90% effective.”2 The region affected is on the border with Hong Kong, and as a result Hong Kong’s health secretary imposed a ban “imports of all live poultry, eggs, and chilled or frozen meat from farms near the affected area.” The ban will be in effect for 21 days.1 Thus far, the Panyu district has not reported any human cases of the virus. Throughout China, however, there have been at least 25 cases of H5N1 in humans resulting in 16 deaths. Last year, China culled “tens of thousands of poultry” and mounted a public awareness campaign in an effort to contain the disease.1 References
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