"We have enhanced surveillance measures, strengthened prevention ability in high-risk areas and improved contingency plans in the prevention of avian influenza," said Huang Baoxu, Director of China Epizootiology Center, in an interview with Xinhua on Thursday.

    Huang is attending the 2nd FAO/OIE Regional Meeting on Avian Influenza Control in Asia in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which opened Wednesday.

    The three-day meeting was organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Vietnamese government.

    Huang said the Chinese government and the relative sectors have taken concrete measures in the prevention of bird flu outbreaks in China, assisting farmers in their prevention work, setting up avian influenza reference laboratory and national epizootiology center for monitoring and surveillance of the influenza, and establishing a prevention system.

    The government has put great efforts in the surveillance of breeding farms, live birds markets, border regions, the flocks near the migratory bird habitats, water net regions and other high-risk areas. The surveillance is focused on chickens and water fowls.

    According to the National Contingency Plan for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, all susceptible poultry flocks in threatened areas, poultry flocks in high-risk areas must be vaccinated compulsorily.

    Another delegate from China, Dr. Li Yanbing from the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, said that the H5N2 inactivated vaccine is widely used in China and is very effective in prevention of the influenza. It played an important role in the prevention and control of PHAI in 2004.

    In another field in the prevention and control of bird flu, Dr. Lin Zhi Xiong, senior veterinarian from the Animal Quarantine Lab. in Guangzhou Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, said China has taken strict measures in export and import of poultry to prevent the spread of avian influenza.

    With the effective measures, China successfully controlled the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in the early half of 2004and no human beings have been infected with the virus.

    China has improved the HPAI surveillance and report system, established contingency plans at different levels and prepared prevention and control resources to ensure better control and eradication of PHAI in case of outbreak, said the Chinese experts.

    Huang said that China also has established cooperation with other countries and international organizations in the work. In 2004, it hosted a regional meeting attended by the Southeast Asian nations on the prevention and control of bird flu and has organized an international training on vaccine export and utilization.

    "We expect more international cooperation in this field in the years to come," said Huang.