By Jiang Huainan

As the international community is devoting itself to controlling the spread of bird flu in East Asia, and experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) and people in different countries are making combined efforts in conducting research on the bird flu virus, the British weekly magazine New Scientist has published an article claiming that the outbreak probably originated in southern China as early as in 2003, and that the Chinese government kept the public ignorant of this.

In response to this rumor, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said at a regular press conference on January 29 that the claims are “incorrect, unfounded and unscientific, and, therefore, are irresponsible.” A WHO official also pointed out that it is too early to make such a judgment, expressing the hope that all sides would take a scientific attitude to the epidemic.

Especially, an academic magazine like New Scientist should take a scientific attitude. But, unfortunately, the opposite is true.

Why do we say so?

First of all, bird flu has a history of more than 100 years, and is still a topic of serious concern to scientists around the world. The study of its sources, infection channels and preventive measures is still going on. A lot of scientific experiments and researches are required before we can understand the generation and ways of spreading of this highly contagious disease.

Next, as an epidemic disease, bird flu may spread to across national boundaries. The fact is that currently this epidemic disease has been found in several Asian countries and regions. The natural conditions and agricultural and poultry breeding methods in these countries and regions are all similar. It is still unknown where the disease first occurred, and which place spread the disease to which.

Third, the earliest bird flu case was not found in China. It was not until January 23, 2004 that China found its first suspected bird flu case, in Long’an County, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The case was confirmed as bird flu on January 27.

Fourth, there is no authoritative scientific research institute anywhere which has provided any facts or evidence that China was the origin of the bird flu outbreak this time. Nor has any authoritative international organization announced this.

The announcement that China covered up the news on purpose is even more groundless, and amounts to slandering China.

The Chinese government’s attitude toward epidemic diseases may be understood by reviewing the way it dealt with SARS, which spread in China last year. It made great efforts to make reports of the disease’s development open and transparent, and daily reports of the state of the epidemic were made widely available. Therefore, there is no logical reason for the Chinese government to cover up the bird flu epidemic.

A serious public health hazard, the bird flu epidemic affects the health and lives of all nations including the Chinese. The series of measures taken by the Chinese government since the first bird flu case was found in China shows that it attaches great importance to this issue. State leaders have many times instructed various departments and regions to adopt swift and effective measures against the spread of the disease. It is demanded that every department concerned fight against the epidemic by relying upon science, law and the support of the public. 

(China.org.cn February 2, 2004)