Despite growing pressure for openness, Chinese officials have concealed bird-flu outbreaks in several provinces for many months this year, a leading scientific expert says.
“I don’t know if they are brave enough to admit that they have the virus in every corner of the country,” said Guan Yi, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong who has analyzed nearly 100,000 bird-flu-virus samples from across China.
“Quite honestly, some provinces have the virus and they still haven’t announced any outbreak. I can show direct evidence, even though China is still trying very hard to block my research. The government doesn’t do any surveillance studies, but they say there is no outbreak.”
See also “Expert says China hiding bird flu, WHO disagrees” from Reuters.
