KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--China must investigate bird flu outbreaks in its remote Qinghai province more rigorously and show more transparency about the reported misuse of an anti-viral drug on poultry, U.N. experts said July 4.

Chinese authorities have been cooperative with international agencies in tackling bird flu, but must gather more information about recent outbreaks in Qinghai, where about 6,000 migratory birds have died recently in a resurgence of avian flu, said Shigeru Omi of the World Health Organization.

Officials there must determine whether apparently healthy birds might have been infected without showing symptoms, Omi told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of a United Nations-backed meeting on curbing the spread of the disease in Asia.

China has said it would conduct such testing but needs international help.

Health experts have warned that migratory geese and gulls in Qinghai could spread the virus when they fly south this summer, probably to places such as to India and Pakistan.

Another concern in China is the use of amantadine, a human anti-viral drug, by farmers on poultry, possibly reducing its effectiveness to treat bird flu in people, the Food and Agriculture Organization's Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech told a news conference.

China's government said last month it was dispatching experts to stop the practice, but has not said how widely the drug--meant to treat humans only--is being misused.

He said Chinese officials were being transparent enough about the situation, but added that: "We are asking Chinese authorities to be more transparent and give more details."

The WHO has said it found rising resistance to amantadine in the H5N1 bird flu strain in several countries, including in China. At least 54 people have died in Asia since the avian flu outbreaks began in late 2003--though none of the fatalities have occurred in China.

Date: 7/20/05