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China completes testing of possible human bird-flu vaccine

Business Materials 24 December 2007 17:35 (UTC +04:00)

( RIA Novosti ) - Chinese scientists have completed the second phase of tests on a possible human vaccine for bird flu, the Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

The vaccine has been developed by the Chinese company, Sinovac Biotech. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention also took part in the program. Research on the vaccine was carried out from September to November 2007.

No negative reactions were reported among the 402 people, aged from 18 to 60, that the vaccine was tested on.

" China is capable of producing human-use bird flu vaccine in an appropriate quantity," the agency quoted Zhang Jiansan, vice-general manager of the Sinovac Biotech, as saying.

China, which is the world's leading producer of poultry, has reported 26 human cases of bird flu since 2003.

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed over 200 people since the first registered outbreak of the disease in Southeast Asia in 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

Although cases of human-to-human transmission of the avian influenza have not been reported, scientists fear the virus could mutate into a strain that could pass easily from person to person, and as a result could cause a global pandemic.

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