Guangzhou-based South China Agricultural University has pledged to turn out 400,000 bottles of vaccine against the deadly bird flu virus in half a month, according to a university research fellow in Guangzhou Monday.

The vaccines will be injected into about 100 million fowls in Guangdong to prevent them from getting bird flu, said Prof. Xin Chao'an, who was in charge of the vaccine development on Monday.

The South China Agricultural University is one of the two designated producers of the vaccine against bird flu in the country. Laboratory tests showed the vaccine developed and produced by the university is highly effective.

To date, many chickens in Guangdong province have been vaccinated. The workshop of the university runs around the clock to produce enough vaccine for approximately 100 million chickens in Guangdong.

The Guangdong provincial government will input 5 million yuan (about US$602,000) to back up research on the disease contracted by both human beings and animals and on laboratory construction of the South China Agricultural University.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2004)