# 1335
Is you never know who, or what, to believe.
Their cover up of the SARS outbreak in 2003, their State controlled media, and Internet censorship rules all conspire to give us less than optimal confidence in any official proclamation emanating from that nation.
Today Chinese authorities held a press conference where they denied that H2H (human to human) transmission took place between the son and his father in Jiangsu Province, and instead insisted that it was of `poultry origin'.
This comes after days of denying that there were any sick fowl in Jiangsu Province, or any evidence that these two victims had been in contact with infected birds. Even the WHO (World Health Organization) has said they couldn't rule out H2H transmission.
But over the weekend rumors began to emerge from China, mostly courtesy of a dissident Chinese news service, The Epoch Times. These rumors run contrary to the official story carried by the rest of the media, and claim the father died, and that at least two other contacts were sick. Of course, none of this has been substantiated, and dissent groups have made such claims before.
With these rumors swelling, and being openly discussed on the Internet, one can understand the Chinese's desire to quell them. Either these stories are false and unfairly damage China's reputation, or if true, they would prove very inconvenient.
But of course we are left with a dilemma. Do we give these rumors any credence? Do we simply accept the official line as gospel? Or do we, realizing that China hasn't always been quick to divulge the truth, find some middle ground?
Personally, I take any news coming out of China with a large grain of salt. And that includes both officials statements, and any dissident reports. The track record for veracity for both of these entities has been poor.
Right now, there's not much in these rumors to give them any weight. They could be true, but right now, I don't see anything that convinces me of that fact.
Unfortunately, the press conference held today (see below) seems more of a knee-jerk reaction to the rumors than anything else. An attempt to `spin' the story. Funny thing is, they could be telling the absolute truth.
But you'd be hard pressed to tell that from here.
Ministry: Bird flu cases originated from poultry
By Yang Jian 2007-12-10
OFFICIALS confirmed that the bird flu virus that killed a man and infected his father in Jiangsu Province was a "poultry-originated virus" and cannot spread from person to person, Mao Qun'an, spokesman of the Ministry of Health, said in a press conference this morning.
The H5N1 virus has not mutated according to the gene analysis of the virus, Mao said. The cause for the two infections was still being investigated, as both had no contact with poultry before becoming ill.
No clinical symptoms of bird flu have been found among the 83 people who have had close contact with the two patients, the ministry confirmed.
Sixty-nine people were in close contact with the first patient, and only his father has shown symptoms of bird flu. Six people who had close contact with both patients are still under close observation while 55 others have been released.
A 24-year-old man, surnamed Lu, died of bird flu on December 3, China's 17th fatality from the disease. Before he developed symptoms, Lu was at home preparing for an exam and had no contact with infected or deceased fowl, Xinhua news agency reported earlier.
Doctors confirmed that Lu's father, 52, had the H5N1 virus four days after his son's death, creating crucial questions about how the two infections occurred.
The World Health Organization said it could not rule out the possibility of human-to-human infection after the cases.
Humans can contract H5N1 from close contact with infected birds, but scientists fear the disease could mutate into a version that spreads from person to person, risking wider outbreaks or even a global pandemic.
