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medpundit |
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Monday, November 07, 2005But the inhibitions of a secrecy-bound political system, with officials suppressing bad news from higher-ups to avoid being blamed, has been shown in the handling of the death of 12-year-old He Yin, who died on October 13 after her family cooked and ate one of their chickens that had died, despite a bird flu outbreak in their region of central Hunan province. After Hong Kong newspapers reported the death two weeks later, Hunan health officials insisted no sign of the H5N1 avian flu virus had been found in either the girl or her brother, who also fell ill with flu-like symptoms. They also dismissed any infection of a teacher who developed flu after chopping raw chicken while he had a small cut on one hand. Last week central government officials decided to call in help.On Sunday the official news agency reported that bird flu 'had not been ruled out' in the three cases. At least the government is trying to act responsibly rather than cover up their deficiencies. That's a step forward. Now, they just have to convince everyone else on the lower rungs of officialdom to do the same. posted by Sydney on 11/07/2005 08:37:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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