China’s Drought May Make Birds More Susceptible to Avian Flu

[Coventina]

Source: Bloomberg

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- A drought in northern China that has limited drinking water to almost 4 million people may also be making birds more susceptible to the deadly H5N1 avian-flu strain.

The lack of rainfall in Shandong, Shaanxi and other northern provinces since October causes stress for local fowl, said Hong Kong Veterinary Association President Veronica Leong, who specializes in birds. “Any sort of stress would make birds more susceptible to disease,” she said by e-mail today.

Bird flu killed five people in China last month, three of whom were from regions experiencing drought. Lo Wing-Lok, a health adviser to the Hong Kong government, said yesterday China has an outbreak of bird flu among poultry that its government hasn’t reported.

“As drinking water becomes more scarce for wild birds, they may come into closer contact with domestic fowl, increasing chances of cross-infection,” said Nie Ben, agricultural commodities manager at Shanghai Continent Futures Co. in Dalian.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a9Wn03ZEMFSo&refer=asia

[Mojorabbit]

1. China has a problem already

there are a gazillion articles out the past few days all but accusing them of hiding cases right now.
Here is one.

China suspected of covering up bird flu outbreak
China is suspected of covering up an outbreak of bird flu among poultry, according to experts.
The accusations came after at least 21 dead birds, including ducks and chickens, washed up on beaches in Hong Kong. At least three of them have tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus.

The Hong Kong government has said that there are no bird farms near where the corpses washed ashore and that it is liaising with the Chinese authorities to determine if they came from the Pearl River delta region.

There have been eight cases of bird flu infecting humans in January alone, five of which have been fatal. The cases have been distributed widely throughout China and there is a growing fear that contaminated poultry has entered the food chain.

There have been unconfirmed rumours that infected chickens in Jiangsu province were bleached with hydrogen peroxide and sold. There was a mass cull of 300,000 birds in December after an outbreak.
more at link
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4510840/China-suspected-of-covering-up-bird-flu-outbreak.html