China on Tuesday sought to reassure
consumers already spooked by a slew of food scandals that
poultry was safe to eat after officials confirmed the first
H5N1 bird flu outbreak since May.

The Ministry of Agriculture said on its Web site
(www.agri.gov.cn) late on Monday that 36,130 ducks had been
culled following the outbreak in Panyu district of the southern
metropolis of Guangzhou, not far from Hong Kong.

“All areas which have bird flu outbreaks have to stop trade
in live poultry across the board, and shut wet markets,” Zhou
Bohua, director of the State Administration of Industry and
Commerce, told a news conference in Beijing.

His department, along with the Health Ministry and other
government bodies, all worked together to cull birds and make
sure slaughter houses were regulated, he said.

“For pork, poultry and other sensitive foods which have a
close relationship with people, there is supervision carried
out at every step of the way to guarantee product quality in
the market,” Zhou added.

China has been trying to clean up its food and
manufacturing sectors following a string of problems with
everything from toys to pet food, which has alarmed consumers
at home and around the world.

“UNDER CONTROL”

The Agriculture Ministry said the Guangdong bird flu strain
was confirmed as a subtype of the H5N1 strain by the National
Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, but that there was no
reason to panic.

“At present, the epidemic has been bought under effective
control,” it said, adding there had been no other reports of
outbreaks in the nearby area.

In Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post quoted a
Guangzhou official as saying more than 100,000 birds were to be
destroyed in the next few days to prevent bird flu from
spreading.

“We would rather kill 100,000 ducks wrongfully than miss
even one (that has the virus),” Su Zequn, vice mayor of Panyu
county’s Sixian village, told the newspaper.

It also quoted Yu Yedong, the director of the Guangdong
Animal Vaccination Centre, as saying that although almost all
poultry in the province had been vaccinated, it took at least
21 days for vaccines to create enough antibodies in birds.

On Monday, Hong Kong suspended chilled and frozen duck and
geese imports from Guangdong province following China’s
announcement that poultry there was suspected to be infected
with H5N1.

China’s last poultry case of the virus was in May, in the
central province of Hunan.

With the world’s biggest poultry population and millions of
backyard birds roaming free, China is at the centre of the
fight against bird flu.

Scientists fear the bird flu virus could mutate into a form
that could pass easily from person to person, sparking a global
pandemic.

There have been 25 human cases, including 16 deaths, from
the virus in China and dozens of outbreaks in birds that have
led to the culling of millions of fowl.

(Additional reporting by Nao Nakanishi in Hong Kong)