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In Korea it is called Seollal.
In Vietnam, it is called Tết Nguyên Đán or Feast of the First Morning. Tết for short.
In China, it is called Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year, or simply, The Spring Festival.
By whatever name, the lunar new year is no doubt the most important holiday in all of Asia.
In many Asian cultures it is a long held tradition that people return home to attend a reunion dinner with their families on the eve of the lunar New Year.
This year, the lunar New Year falls on January 26th.
In the week leading up to that date, and for perhaps a month after, the largest human migration on earth occurs in mainland China.
It is called Chunyun, or the Spring Festival travel season, and this year it will see hundreds of millions of people traveling across China- often in crowded buses and trains - to return home to visit their families. These travelers will spend a few days in their home village or town, and then travel back to the city where they work or attend school.
Obviously, this would be a bad time for any outbreak of any infectious disease.
This upcoming human migration is no doubt very much on the minds of Chinese officials as they try to deal with the recent human cases of H5N1 infection in their country.
Xinhua News is reporting that new, strict, guidelines have been issued regarding the the inspection and management of poultry markets, and the investigation of any suspected bird flu cases.
Call for bird flu action
Source: Xinhua | 2009-1-22 |
NEWSPAPER EDITION
CHINA has ordered an improvement in the monitoring and management of live poultry markets after four human bird flu cases were reported nationwide within a month.
In a joint circular, the ministries of health, agriculture and the State Administration of Industry and Commerce urges local bureaux to work closely together in supervising and managing live poultry markets, which, say experts, are a key factor in human bird flu prevention and control.
Local offices must maintain 24-hour supervision of the markets, and once bird flu or suspected cases are spotted, they must investigate as a matter of emergency epidemiological investigation, trace the source and isolate those having close contact with the affected birds to curb the spread of the disease.
Localities were urged to close live poultry markets in urban areas, and disinfect markets daily if they could not be shut. Local bureaux of the three agencies were also told to launch a daily surveillance and reporting system and to deal with the situation jointly once disease was found.
Three people have died of bird flu so far this year. The victims were a 19-year-old woman in Beijing on January 5, a 27-year-old woman in Shandong on January 17 and a 16-year-old male student in Hunan on Tuesday.
A two-year-old is receiving treatment in Shanxi.
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