China has ordered emergency measures to prevent an outbreak of avian flu, including the closure of nature reserves to the public, after investigators said migratory birds found dead in the country's west this month were killed by the virus.
Local authorities were ordered to watch wild birds for signs of disease and impose quarantines if necessary, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said farms near migration routes were ordered to immunize their birds, while the public was warned to "stop contact with poultry."
The order came hours after the Agriculture Ministry announced that migratory birds found dead May 4 in the western province of Qinghai were killed by the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus. Xinhua said that some came from Southeast Asia but it didn't say what species they were.
The ministry "asked the whole country to pay keen attention to the new confirmed cases of migratory birds and to take effective measures to curb possibly spreading the epidemic," Xinhua said.
It said that the public "should not be too worried," but said "everyone in the country should enhance monitoring for the epidemic and improve their early warning system."
The regional death toll in the latest bird flu outbreak rose to 53 this week when another fatality was reported in Vietnam.
The World Health Organization warned Thursday that the virus poses a great potential threat to humans if it develops the ability to spread easily from person to person. There is no evidence so far of such a change and most cases have been traced to contact with sick birds.
The dead birds were found in Niannaisuoma, a village near the city of Guangcha in Qinghai, Xinhua reported.
"The disease did not spread to [humans] or fowl," Xinhua said. It didn't say how many birds died or give other details.
A report on the Web site of the newspaper Life Daily said 178 birds were found dead on May 4 in the lake at Bird Island, a major research center for migratory water fowl.
China's most recent known case of bird flu occurred last July in the eastern province of Anhui.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
RSS