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  Joined: 2005-04-24 Points: 648 |  Posted: Submitted by wtanaka (648) on Sun, 2005-07-24 04:54. | Subject: Mysterious disease kills nine in Southwest SichuanBEIJING (AFP) - A strange and unknown disease has taken the lives of nine people and infected 11 others in southwestern China's Sichuan province, state press said. The Sichuan provincial health department has put out an emergency notice warning of the illness that has infected at least 20 people, 10 of whom remain hospitalized, with six in a critical condition. The victims of the unknown disease have all been farmers, aged between 30-70, who apparently did not have any contact with each other, a news report on the provincial government's website said. Doctors have no clue how the disease is transmitted, it said. Sick people began appearing "one-by-one" in hospitals in Ziyang city from June 24 to July 21, showing symptoms of high fever, a loss of strength, vomiting, and shock, the report said. The sick came from 15 villages in 12 different townships, it said, mainly in the Ziyang area and Yingjiang district. After receiving a report from local health departments, the Ministry of Health in Beijing has sent a team to investigate the disease, it said. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050723/hl_afp/chinahealthdisease_050723200055 |
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Points: 648
HONG KONG - CHINA vowed yesterday to punish officials who falsify or delay reports on a deadly swine flu that has infected at least 198 people and killed 36, while Hong Kong's government adopted tough measures to guard against the disease.
Seventeen new infections of streptococcus suis bacteria and two new deaths were reported in China's south-western province of Sichuan, state television said yesterday.
It said the disease had struck 176 villages.
Beijing, which came under fire for covering up the Sars outbreak two years ago, insisted the pig-borne disease was under control.
The online edition of the official Xinhua news agency quoted a health official in Ziyang, where the outbreak was first reported in June, as saying the rates of new infections and deaths have fallen.
Media coverage of the outbreak has been restricted: Chinese reporters say they may no longer visit affected areas and newspapers have been told to publish Xinhua reports.
Still, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement that China has done a good job of supplying information on the epidemic and taken extensive steps to block further infections.
'In cases of negligence, attempted cover-ups, failure to report or delaying report that lead to serious consequences and great losses, the top person in charge will be held accountable,' the Beijing Evening News said, quoting a Sichuan government statement.
Sichuan's Livestock and Food Product Bureau has also set a similar policy for veterinarians, demanding that they respond rapidly to suspected infections and immediately report any confirmed new cases or be held responsible for the consequences, Xinhua said.
The Chinese authorities say all those taken ill in Sichuan had slaughtered, handled or eaten infected pigs.
They stress that there has been no human-to-human transmission of the bacteria.
China plans to produce enough vaccine to inoculate 10 million pigs and on Sunday sent a first batch of doses, enough for 350,000 animals, to the provincial capital, Chengdu, where infections have also been reported.
In all, nine Sichuan cities, including Ziyang, Jianyang and Neijiang, have reported cases of the disease.
But a microbiologist from Sichuan University said the disease might not have originated in Ziyang, since similar cases were also reported in southern Guangdong province and Hong Kong.
According to Professor Li Mingyuan, streptococcus suis thrives in temperatures around 37 deg C and is endemic among pigs.
It could have mutated under the hot weather conditions and infected the farmers who came into direct contact with the sick pigs, the Wen Wei Po reported him as saying.
Hong Kong's health chief York Chow told reporters yesterday that the city's doctors will be legally required to report new cases of streptococcus suis, starting today.
Hong Kong experts have examined 30 cases in Sichuan and concluded that the only cause seemed to be the bacteria streptococcus suis, and not a combination of bacteria or toxins as the WHO has suggested, Mr Chow said.
'There is no evidence of any co-infection at the moment,' he said.
To ward off the disease, the Hong Kong government has ordered pig farmers in the city to observe hygiene standards strictly and to dispose of pig carcasses properly in designated areas.
Offenders face steep fines and even six months in jail. -- REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.asiaone.com.sg/st/st_20050802_332040.html
Points: 648
On a more personal update, a friend came back from Sichuan visiting family and didn't bring my girlfriend's favorite tofu snack because it was packaged in pig oil.
Points: 648
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050821/hl_afp/chinahealthdisease_050821210611
BEIJING (AFP) - A deadly swine disease that killed at least 38 people and sickened scores more in southwest China has been brought under control, the country's health and agriculture ministries said.
No new human cases of the virus have been reported since August 4 in China's Sichuan province, where it originally appeared, affecting a total of 204 people, the Xinhua news agency cited the ministries as saying in a report.