China denies use of bird flu drug on chickens

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http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/China_denies_use_of_bird_flu_drug_on_chickens.shtml

China's Ministry of Agriculture denied Tuesday that farmers were encouraged to use a bird flu drug in poultry intended for humans. But it said that experts have been dispatched to investigate whether the misuse of the human bird flu drug ever occurred.

Misuse of the drug, amantadine, is a violation of international livestock guidelines. The Washington Post reported earlier that China's Ministry of Agriculture officials had approved the production and sale of amantadine for treating poultry for bird flu and local veterinary stations instructed farmers how to use the drug.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is worried that the drug could become ineffective in humans if it is misused in poultry to fight bird flu, which would make the virus resistant to the drug.

The Ministry of Agriculture said that the Post report was groundless, adding that the Chinese government had never permitted farmers to use amantadine to treat bird flu in poultry.