HIV-infected parcels found in China

Chinese authorities have found HIV-antigens in two parcels here, prompting officials to warn parcel delivery services against unauthorised dangerous substances that might pollute the environment and endanger human health.
About 29,400 international parcels and luggage containing dangerous and illegal substances were intercepted at the airport during the first three quarters of this year, a 2.1 per cent increase from last year, Zhou Xiaoping, a quarantine officer in charge of air delivery services at Beijing Capital International Airport, has said.
Among them, around 1,100 pest-infested items were found in parcels and luggage brought to Beijing. A variety of non-Chinese species, including Pratylenchus vulnus, a parasitic worm responsible for root lesion disease in plants, have been detected in the parcels.

The haul might be only a fraction of the total number of illegal parcels delivered in China because only 3 per cent of regular packages are randomly checked by quarantine officers, Zhou said.
All packages marked as containing restricted items must be quarantined.
Two separate parcels containing HIV-antigens, which could lead to infection, were found in regular packages. Seven vials of HIV-antigen and HIV-antibody were also found in a parcel sent to a pharmaceutical business in Tianjin in August, state-run China daily reported today.

Another parcel with eight vials of blood products and HIV-antigens was being sent to a biological agent company in Beijing in September, the report said.

"The products are allowed to be delivered through the post or by delivery services under the condition that they go through quarantine procedures and obtain the approval from authorities," Zhou said.
He Xiong, deputy director at the Beijing Centre for Disease Control, said HIV-antigen is widely used in drug and diagnostic agent research and development at biochemical and pharmaceutical companies. If it leaks, it might pollute the environment and endanger human health.
He asked border inspection and quarantine authorities to increase routine checkups to make sure such substances with potential biological risks are packed and transported appropriately.