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.
See also “Bird flu outbreak kills 545 fowl in China” from the AP.
