Pandemic profits: Nine people have been arrested for selling fake bird flu vaccines that are suspected to have contributed to an outbreak of the disease in northeastern China’s Liaoning Province.
Police found that two companies had manufactured and sold 200,000 vials of 12 different kinds of bird flu vaccine nationwide, the Liaoxi Commercial Daily reported Wednesday. With 29 outbreaks of the disease discovered so far this year, China is seeking to vaccinate an estimated 5.2 billion farm-raised birds.
Investigators found that fake vaccines were used on farms in Liaoning’s Jinzhou region, where an outbreak of bird flu occurred in mid-October. Some 2.5 million farm-raised birds were culled in the region following the outbreak, devastating the livelihood of farmers in the region..
“The use of fake and shoddy vaccines will result in a disaster,” Agriculture Minister Du Qingling said. “If the vaccines are not up to standard, then immunization to the virus will not be uniform or effective. This could bring huge losses. If we miss the chance to exterminate the virus in the early stages, then the difficulty in wiping it out will increase by several times, as will the spread of the epidemic.”
