A factory worker in Thailand became Asia's 23rd victim of bird flu yesterday, the same day that China declared victory over the virus that has decimated the region's poultry over the past few months.
Japan redoubled efforts against its still-simmering outbreak with new penalties for farmers who fail to report cases.
Since the outbreak emerged last December, eight Asian countries have battled a severe form of the virus that left about 100 million chickens dead from infections and government-ordered culls. Pakistan and Taiwan dealt with a milder strain.
The virus has jumped to humans only in the two hardest-hit countries -- Vietnam and Thailand -- killing a total of 23 people and raising fears of a health crisis that would buffet the region's economy more severely than last year's SARS outbreak.
Both Vietnam and Thailand have said in the past two weeks that their outbreaks are coming under control, and bird flu's effects on the region's travel industry have paled compared with last year's bout with SARS.
Early fears among World Health Organization officials that the H5N1 bird flu virus could mix with a human strain and spark the next deadly global pandemic have not been borne out so far. Highly contagious among birds, the virus has not proven to be easily transferrable between humans.
But the disease has nonetheless taken its toll on people, with most cases traced to direct contact with sick birds.
The latest victim was a 39-year-old woman who was sickened on March 1. She likely was infected by chickens at a neighbor's house, where 20 birds had died of avian influenza, Thai officials said.
She died Friday, becoming Thailand's eighth human fatality, but her death was not announced until yesterday. An additional 21 people are suspected to have been infected in Thailand.
China's declaration yesterday that it was now free of bird flu was the latest indication that the region might be returning toward normal, although international health officials have warned it could take years to completely stamp out the virus.
Chinese officials lifted quarantines in the last of two of its 16 regions affected by the disease.
All of the country's confirmed cases "have been stamped out," Agriculture Ministry spokesman Jia Youling told a news conference yesterday.
Also See Story:
Poultry prices recover from slump
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS