Saturday, April 29, 2006
China denies bird flu cover-up
BEIJING (Reuters) - China, criticised for its initial cover-up of SARS three years ago, has defended its record on reporting human cases of bird flu as prompt and transparent, state media said on Saturday.
China has reported 18 human infections of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, 12 of which have been fatal. The latest is an 8-year-old girl in the southwestern province of Sichuan who the China Daily newspaper said was in critical condition on Friday.
Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qun’an said every human case of bird flu in China since its first reporting in November had been made public once confirmed, the Beijing News reported.
“The release of the information has been timely, open and transparent,” Mao was quoted as saying. “The report by U.S. media is wrong and untrue.”
The Beijing News said Mao was referring to a report by the Asian Wall Street Journal on Thursday, which said local health officials in China had failed to report possible human cases of bird flu to the central government.
Sources used in this story:
Reuters.com (multiple links)