The virus is spread by migrating wild birds and has recently been found in Russia, Turkey and Romania, spurring efforts around the globe to contain its spread.

BEIJING, Oct. 25 -- Three hours. That's the maximum it should take for a bird-flu outbreak anywhere in the country to be reported to Beijing.

    The exacting timeline is part of a contingency plan hammered out by the Ministry of Agriculture to counter possible outbreaks of the potentially-fatal influenza this autumn and winter.

    According to the plan made available to China Daily yesterday, an outbreak in any county or city must be reported to provincial authorities within 2 hours; and after confirmation, the provincial veterinary bureau must report to the ministry within an hour.

    Any one can report an outbreak to a veterinary bureau, and inform authorities about any misconduct by a department or person in disease prevention, the document said.

    It added that drills should be conducted for emergency operation teams consisting of veterinary and health workers and servicemen and volunteers mobilized if necessary.

    The measures come at a time when the world is worried about an impending pandemic. In the latest cause of alarm, the deadly strain of the virus H5N1 was confirmed in a dead parrot in the United Kingdom.

    The virus is spread by migrating wild birds and has recently been found in Russia, Turkey and Romania, spurring efforts around the globe to contain its spread.

    While H5N1 is easily transmitted between birds, it is hard for humans to contract. But experts fear it could mutate into a form of flu that is easily transmitted between humans and cause a pandemic that could kill millions.

    In Beijing yesterday, the Ministry of Health denied earlier media reports that China would close its borders if a single case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu occurred.

    Huang Jiefu, vice-health minister, was quoted as saying so during a meeting with health officials from Hong Kong and Macao last week.

    But a ministry press official said: "The report is inaccurate."

    The ministry said in a statement yesterday that it signed an agreement with representatives from Hong Kong and Macao on a mechanism to deal with unexpected public health hazards.

    In a related development, forestry authorities have set up a national network of 118 monitoring stations to check on outbreaks of wildlife disease.

    "We have got some 480 reports from provinces that have such stations," said Zhao Liangping, an official with the State Forestry Administration (SFA).

    He described some of the reports as "very important" for SFA to control possible wildlife epidemics, including bird flu.

    Three groups of experts have been sent to the provinces on the routes of migratory birds heading south before the onset of winter.

    So far this autumn, no bird flu has been reported through the monitoring network, said Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for SFA.

    Meanwhile, South China's Guangdong Province will set up a number of wild bird monitoring stations in Guangzhou, Shantou, Zhanjiang and Sihui.

    Experts are worried that Asians are more likely to be affected by the virus, given the traditional methods of raising poultry in the region.

    "The risk of bird-to-human contact in Europe is far less than in Asia," Alejandro Thiermann, president of the International Animal Health Code for the animal health body OIE, said in an interview with Reuters.

(Source: China Daily)