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Bird flu is spreading, China says

BEIJING - China said Friday that bird flu is spreading among its poultry flocks despite mammoth efforts to control the disease, while leaders at an Asia-Pacific summit warned that greater vigilance is needed to prevent more human infections.

President Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin were among the leaders pledging unity in combating bird flu at the summit in South Korea.

Even isolated North Korea announced it was stepping up surveillance of poultry and launching education campaigns. "Projects to prevent bird flu are deepening further," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The reports of new bird flu outbreaks in China point to the challenges in controlling the virulent virus. Hundreds of millions of birds have been vaccinated, yet the government reported two new poultry outbreaks Friday - bringing to 15 the number of cases it has confirmed since Oct. 19.

In the hard-hit northeastern province of Liaoning, nearly 1-million officials were fanning out to enforce flu controls, which include mandatory poultry vaccinations and twice-daily health checks for all villagers who live near the sites of outbreaks - 72,000 people in all, authorities said at a news conference this week.

Officials have been ordered: "If you get too tired to do your job, close your eyes for a moment and then get back to work," said Zhou Liwei, a Liaoning government spokesman.

The bird flu threat loomed large at the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that began Friday.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard urged countries to put aside "national pride or self-consciousness" and be open about reporting outbreaks.

WASHINGTON - The flu drug Tamiflu is safe, federal health advisers said Friday, after finding no direct link between the drug and the deaths of 12 Japanese children who had taken it.

"If we ever have a pandemic of avian flu, which is a debatable point, people want to know that they have a drug that will not cause more (harm) than the flu itself," said Dr. Robert Nelson, chairman of the Food and Drug Administration's Pediatric Advisory Committee. "There is no evidence that this will."

The committee reviewed Tamiflu as part of a routine safety check of drugs whose original uses had been extended to cover children.

The committee voted unanimously that no change was needed in the label to reflect the deaths of the Japanese children or other adverse affects. But it did say that information should be added to the label about serious skin reactions.

[Last modified November 19, 2005, 01:09:04]