BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- China's Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday launched a contingency plan for enhancing national readiness against a possible outbreak of pandemic influenza.

    The contingency plan outlines the structure of national prevention steering and enforcement systems, logistics, emergency reaction and supervision.

    MOH urged all localities to draft their own contingency plans in accordance with local conditions and make good preparations for a possible flu pandemic.

    Four levels of alert -- red, orange, yellow and blue -- will indicate the seriousness of a pandemic outbreak.

    The most serious level, "red", will be announced in case of the consistent and rapid spread of new sub-type flu virus, or if the World Health Organization (WHO) announces the outbreak of a flu pandemic.

    Health authorities above the county level must mobilize all medical resources and set up temporary clinics in case a red alertis announced, and the MOH must release daily reports on the surveillance and control of the pandemic to keep the public well informed, according to the plan.

    The MOH is held accountable for organizing and coordinating epidemic contingency work and, if needed, raising suggestions for establishing a national public health contingency headquarters to the State Council, says the plan.

    Meanwhile, health authorities above the county level should ensure the collection, registry and delivery of flu virus samples for testing, and the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) should establish a national system to manage the surveillance information of influenza and avian influenza.

    China has a weak basis for public health and medical services. The disease surveillance network needs improvement and the production capacity of vaccines and drugs is inadequate, said the information office of the MOH.

    A flu pandemic could arouse turbulent public pandemonium if the country is poorly prepared, it noted.

    Influenza, an acute respiratory disease caused by influenza virus, can spread quickly among people with high mortality rate.

    Four pandemic flu outbreaks took place in the world in the 20th century, namely from 1918 to 1919 in Spain, 1957 to 1958 in Asia, 1968 to 1969 in Hong Kong and 1977 in Russia. Each caused huge economic losses and killed millions of people.

    In the Spanish pandemic, the flu killed 21 million people and infected 600 million others. The toll exceeded deaths in World WarI.

    WHO has warned against a possible breakout of another pandemic flu in the world. It has promulgated a planning guide book for countries to prevent pandemic flu. Countries including the United States and Canada have already worked out plans.

    China is a historical breakout place of pandemic influenza. The viruses of the last three global influenza pandemics were first found in China. About half of the flu vaccine virus released by the WHO after 1988 have been collected by China. Enditem