# 2652
According to the Chinese government, they rarely have outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu virus in their country. And if you based your perceptions on their filings with the OIE, or reports from their state run media, you'd have to agree.
We hear rumors to the contrary, of course.
Vague, unsubstantiated, and sometimes potentially politically motivated rumors.
So it's hard to know how much credence to give them.
Of course, we are asked to believe that Huang Yanqing of Beijing was unlucky enough to buy and slaughter the only infected duck in all of Hebei Province last month - since no other infected birds were found.
And there's the matter of two or three dozen infected wild birds that turn up in the Hong Kong territory each year, just about all of which came from mainland China.
And then there's this; a report from Vietnam where 50% (8 of 16) of birds tested, smuggled in to Lang Son Province from China last month, were positive for the bird flu virus.
Jan 13, 2:45 AM EST
Vietnam finds bird flu virus in Chinese chickens
AP Photo
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Animal health officials in Vietnam detected the bird flu virus in chickens smuggled from neighboring China, highlighting the danger of outbreaks as the Lunar New Year approaches, an official said Tuesday.
Eight of 16 samples taken from nearly 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) of poultry confiscated by authorities late last month in the border province of Lang Son tested positive for the H5N1 virus, said Do Van Duoc, director of the provincial animal health department.
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Like the parable of the six blind men who were each asked to touch a different part of an elephant and identify what object they were touching, we are only able to perceive small, select pieces of what goes on in China.
Exactly how pervasive the virus is in China is something that, perhaps, even the Chinese authorities don't really know. Bad news in China has a history of being `contained' at the local level, and is only reluctantly passed up the chain of command to Beijing.
Anecdotal evidence, however, would suggest they may have a bigger bird flu problem than gets officially reported.
