China to vaccinate 14billion birds, and in a related story, pigs have learned to fly - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

mirevolver · 11-15-2005, 09:36 PM

link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4439080.stm

Quote:

China has vowed to vaccinate all of its estimated 14 billion poultry to contain the spread of bird flu.

In his announcement, Chief veterinary officer Jia Youling said all the fees would be covered by the government.

The move comes as new outbreaks of bird flu were confirmed in several regions of China in the past month.

So far there have been no confirmed human infections in China, although several cases are being investigated.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 60 people in South East Asia since 2003.

Vaccine shortages

Mr Jia made the announcement while answering questions on an internet forum about the current bird flu situation in the country.

China is producing more than 100m doses of bird flu vaccine a day but some areas were still reporting shortages, the ministry of agriculture says.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had been told by Beijing about two new outbreaks of flu among chickens in China's far-western Xinjiang province on 9 November.

More than 300,000 poultry had been slaughtered in two counties of the province, a WHO spokesman in Beijing said.

WHO officials are also investigating the possible transmission of the disease to four people in Hunan province.

Ok, I seem to think that China has now vowed to do the impossible. It would be hard enough to get a vaccine to the 1 billion people if one for humans existed, but to vaccinate 14 billion birds. These numbers just look a little unreachable.

Journeyman · 11-16-2005, 12:39 AM

Well I mean they've GOT 1 billion people, that's only 14 injections per person to do all those birds...

I kid, but seriously, they could pull it off. 100 million doses produced a day and still having shortages...

Pip · 11-16-2005, 06:11 AM

Their space program is doing okay, so they could pull this off too. I vaguely recall a method of vaccinating large animal populations by designing a vaccine that spread like a virus, so you'd only have to "infect" a small percentage and they would spread the vaccine.

Still, I don't get this Bird Flu panic. More people die of pneumonia every day than of Bird Flu. And there are too many pesky birds around anyway.

mirevolver · 11-16-2005, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pip

Still, I don't get this Bird Flu panic. More people die of pneumonia every day than of Bird Flu. And there are too many pesky birds around anyway.

Right now there are relativly few bird flu deaths because the virus can't go from human to human, it can only go from bird to human. But the fear is that the virus can mutate to a form that can go from bird --> human --> human. As soon as the virus can jump from one human to another, then it will have the possibility to kill millions of people in the span of a few months.

As for China vaccinating birds, the problem I see is it's mainly a poultry population that is being vaccinated, so they could be vaccinating a bird that would be killed for food the next day. They will also constantly have to vaccinate new birds that are brought up to replace the ones killed for food.

Rodney · 11-16-2005, 10:44 AM

Give them credit for even trying. And when they actually put their minds to something and crack the whip, they usually accomplish what they try. Authoritarian, hierarchical societies are good that way, when the people in charge are not idiots. And the Chinese leaders are certainly not that. Look at the one-child birth control initiative: largely successful.

Of course, you probably wouldn't want to _live_ in that society. But I expect them to make a really strong push at vaccinating those birds, and get a lot of support from society. After all, if human-contagious bird flu develops in China -- one of the most likely places -- who's going to get it first? And worst?

11-16-2005, 12:39 AM	#2 (permalink)
Journeyman Like John Goodman, but not. Location: SFBA, California	Well I mean they've GOT 1 billion people, that's only 14 injections per person to do all those birds... I kid, but seriously, they could pull it off. 100 million doses produced a day and still having shortages...

11-16-2005, 06:11 AM	#3 (permalink)
Pip Likes Hats Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Their space program is doing okay, so they could pull this off too. I vaguely recall a method of vaccinating large animal populations by designing a vaccine that spread like a virus, so you'd only have to "infect" a small percentage and they would spread the vaccine. Still, I don't get this Bird Flu panic. More people die of pneumonia every day than of Bird Flu. And there are too many pesky birds around anyway.

11-16-2005, 10:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	Give them credit for even trying. And when they actually put their minds to something and crack the whip, they usually accomplish what they try. Authoritarian, hierarchical societies are good that way, when the people in charge are not idiots. And the Chinese leaders are certainly not that. Look at the one-child birth control initiative: largely successful. Of course, you probably wouldn't want to _live_ in that society. But I expect them to make a really strong push at vaccinating those birds, and get a lot of support from society. After all, if human-contagious bird flu develops in China -- one of the most likely places -- who's going to get it first? And worst?