Medical experts said it's of great significance to introduce traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) into the prevention and treatment of human bird flu, especially in the early stage of the disease.

The experts from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Japan and the Republic of Korea, who attended a seminar held by China's Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and China Association of Chinese Medicine, have agreed that China should develop its own method of preventing and treating human infections of the avian influenza through combining modern medicine with the TCM theory.

Experts said that the TCM has been playing an important role in controlling of other infectious diseases, including AIDS and malaria. Therefore, it shares equal responsibility with the modern medicine in human bird flu prevention and treatment.

The cases of human infection with bird flu in China numbered 13 in 2006, which was seven in 2005.

China currently has about 3,000 traditional medical hospitals that dispense medical treatment to nearly 234 million people each year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2007)