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Chinese officer accuses United States of secret biological attack over new strain of bird flu that has killed nine

By C. J. Refsland on April 10, 2013 • ( 0 )

By The Daily Mail

A Chinese military official has blamed the US government for the new strain of bird flu affecting China, calling it a secret biological attack.

People’s Liberation Army Senior Colonel Dai Xu said America released the H7N0 bird flu virus into China, in an act of biological warfare, in a blog on Saturday.

Writing on Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site similar to Twitter, Dai alleged the new bird flu strain had been designed as a weapon, similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), that affected the country in 2003 and which he claims was also developed as a US bio-weapon.

Workers from the local centre for disease control and prevention take part in a drill in Hefei city, Anhui province. A Chinese officer has accused the US of creating the latest bird flu virus strain

Workers from the local center for disease control and prevention collect samples from participants during a drill in Hefei city, Anhui province

The US has dismissed the claims. State Department spokesman Jason Rebholz told the Washington Free Beacon: ‘There is absolutely no truth to these allegations.’

Dai’s post suggests the new outbreak of bird flu should not be a cause for concern.

He wrote: ‘The national leadership should not pay too much attention to it, or else it’ll be like in 2003 with SARS!

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‘At that time, America was fighting in Iraq and feared that China would take advantage of the opportunity to take other actions. This is why they used bio-psychological weapons against China.’

He said the country fell into turmoil, which he claimed is what the US had wanted, and now they were using the ‘same old trick’.

Nine people have died from the 33 confirmed cases of the virus, all in eastern China, according to data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission. State media quoted authorities as saying a vaccine should be ready within months.

The US has dismissed the claims by the Chinese Air Force officer. Picture shows workers from the local centre for disease control and prevention taking part in a drill in Hefei city, Anhui province

A worker tries to net a pigeon in a cage at the Peoples Square in Shanghai

According to the Washington Free Beacon, Dai said even if ‘a few may die’ from the outbreak, it would not be 1,000th of the deaths caused by vehicle accidents in China.

The paper reported that the accusation inflamed widespread responses on Chinese websites, while Luo Changping, deputy editor of Caijing, said most soldiers in the People’s Liberation Army would not support Dai’s comments.

Chinese police have detained at least 10 people for spreading rumours about the H7N9 bird flu as the death toll from the new strain of the virus continued to rise.