Flu outbreaks challenge grassroots epidemic prevention system

By staff reporter Ren Bo and intern Dai Wei

. It is home to “Northeast China’s Number One Poultry Farm,” and one town, Badaohao, owns more than 1.8 million birds.

But as the avian flu has descended upon local poultry farms, farmers with the largest bird populations have suffered the most.  On November 3rd, the national avian influenza research laboratory confirmed that the Heishan virus was indeed H5N1, the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu now worrying the world. Within two days, the county destroyed more than six million birds.

In fact, the flu had hit the region much earlier, but no action was taken. “When the first dead birds were found, no one cared, and anyway, we don’t know where to report, a local villager said. “The government only sent officials here in late October.” Farmers told that they found the first dead chickens on October 7th; despite giving anti-viral medications, the birds died anyway
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The outbreak and the following mass killings have incurred huge losses for local farmers. One farmer, Ma Guanglu, told that raising a chicken costs at least 20 yuan (US＄ 2.50). Ma took out a 300,000 yuan (US＄37,037) bank loan this spring to raise 15,000 chickens. “If it hadn’t been for the bird flu, we would have made back our costs within two years,” Ma said. His investment destroyed, he will still take huge losses even if the government provides compensation, as it has promised, at 10 yuan (US＄1.25) for each destroyed bird.

That causes problems for local government finances as well. Last February, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) together issued a regulation that compensation for each bird destroyed for bird flu prevention would be approximately 10 yuan (US＄1.25), with local governments allowed to set the exact standard in accordance with local conditions. In Heishan, compensation for the six million birds destroyed during the outbreak would amount to more than 60 million yuan (US＄7.4 million), or half of the county’s annual fiscal income. According to the regulation, the central government would provide subsidies worth 20, 50 and 80 percent in eastern, middle and western regions respectively. Local governments would cover the remainder.

Despite that remarkably high government contribution, poultry raisers still complain that that standard is unacceptably low. Some were extremely hesitant to destroy their poultry; some even sold dead chickens to street traders at a discounted price to reduce losses, or just used them for food. Analysts say an inadequate compensation mechanism poses a significant obstacle for bird flu prevention. That is especially true in poorer rural areas, where the lack of an effective vaccination mechanism only compounds the problem.

Vaccination is the most economical and effective way to prevent bird flu. But preventative vaccination programs are currently hard to implement in rural areas, said a veterinary expert who declined to be named. Rural poultry farmers routinely vaccinate their chicks two weeks, six weeks, and five months after their birth. But not all are keen on purchasing extra vaccines against other diseases, including bird flu, not only because of cost but also because of complicated vaccination procedures.

Vaccines for preventing bird flu must be supplied by provincial animal epidemic prevention centers, and poultry farmers must keep detailed vaccination records. “We have raised poultry for many years and nothing has happened,
 said a Heishan farmer. “It would be very troublesome to conduct all designated vaccinations now.” Many farmers turn to vaccination only after disaster strikes, when it is too late for the vaccination to take effect.

“It no longer works. My chickens were all infected,” said a villager surnamed Cao.

To prevent epidemics, the State has established a hierarchical prevention network. When provincial epidemic prevention authorities find possible H5N1-infected birds, they must report within the hour to the MOA and provincial veterinary management department, which in turns reports to the provincial government. In practice, however, the system is not as effective as it might be.

Despite the MOA’s 60 million yuan (US＄7.4 million) investment to reform Liaoning’s local animal hygiene practices, bird flu outbreaks in the province have exposed serious loopholes in local prevention network. In 2000, the local livestock bureau was restructured into a public institution that lacked the authority to enforce its laws, which weakened its previous role as an epidemic prevention establishment.
At the county level, as rural tax-for-fee reforms progressed and local revenues decreased in recent years, the provincial government reformed grassroots veterinary stations into private institutions in 2002. They would no longer receive financial support from the government. As a result, many have turned to drug sales and other profit-making businesses to sustain themselves, giving public interest the short shrift.

Before those reforms, there were designated veterinary clinics for vaccination of domestic birds, but now no institution is responsible for that. “If veterinary clinics are not on the government’s payroll, why should they work for you?” asked an official from the Liaoning provincial animal supervision bureau.

Experts point to these problems as further evidence that the grassroots veterinary system must be strengthened, starting by implementing a compulsory vaccination system.

English version by Xin Zhiming and Lauren Keane