The World Health Organization says the Chinese authorities' reaction to bird flu in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and suspected cases in Hubei and Hunan provinces has been timely.

Confirmation of the bird flu cases demanded lab examination. So China's announcement of a positive confirmation four days after the dead ducks were detected was made in a reasonable time fame, says the WHO representative in China, Dr. Henk Bekedam. Bekedam said the WHO looks forward to working in every way possible with China. He said cooperation is key to conquering the public health threat, and lessons could be learned from countries and regions which have dealt with the disease before, for example the Netherlands. He said it is still not clear, how and where the bird flu started.

The WHO is still studying the transmission methods of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

(CCTV.com January 30, 2004)