China vowed on Tuesday to vaccinate its entire stock of 14 billion poultry against bird flu, with the government to foot the bill as it scrambles to prevent more outbreaks.
The country is battling to control several outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus among poultry, the latest reported on Monday in the eastern province of Anhui, but has yet to report any human cases.
Jia Youling, director-general of the Agriculture Ministry’s veterinary bureau,, said the central government would cover 50 to 80 percent of provinces’ costs of vaccinating all their poultry, the Xinhua news agency reported.
It gave no timetable for the inoculation campaign.
The nine outbreaks reported across China this autumn “have been basically brought under control”, Jia was quoted as saying.
China’s sheer size would make any attempt to vaccinate all its birds difficult. Some experts fear that Beijing has discovered more bird flu cases than officially recorded.
The H5N1 virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia and is endemic in poultry flocks in many parts of the region.
It remains hard for humans to catch, but scientists fear it will mutate into a form capable of passing easily among people, triggering a pandemic that could kill millions.