RFID to be used in bird flu monitoring

22/11/05 RFID solutions provider Smart-tek Solutions, Inc. has met and discussed with the Chinese government to immediately prepare for test trials of its RFID monitoring and tracking technologies at a poultry farm in China, in the fight against the possible spread of the H5N1 Avian Influenza.

Upon his return from China, Mr. Donald Gee, Chairman and CEO of Smart-tek Solutions, Inc. announced, "We had highly successful and encouraging meetings and discussions with Chinese officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology." He added, "For the Chinese government, this is an area of such immediate and grave concern in their fight against the spread of the Bird Flu. The Ministry of Science and Technology has a team that is charged with monitoring the Avian Flu in China and is seeking solutions to assist in the surveillance of poultry as well as other livestock."

Mr. Goodwin Wang, Managing Director of SES Investments (China) Ltd., who accompanied Mr. Gee to the meetings in Beijing said, "We were advised at the meeting with the Ministry of Science and Technology, that this Ministry has the authority to issue a national mandatory directive to require the use of RFID technology by all poultry farms."

On November 15, 2005, the Ministry of Science and Technology arranged for Mr. Gee to visit a poultry farm in the outskirts of Beijing, China to evaluate and assess the logistics of the proposed test trial. Mr. Gee stated, "This one facility raises and processes 30 million chickens annually. The sheer number of birds, of all species in China, is simply astonishing."

On November 17, 2005, China confirmed its first human deaths from the H5N1 avian flu virus, saying one person in Anhui province had died and another in Hunan province was suspected of having been killed by the H5N1 strain. "We expect there will be more poultry outbreaks to come," said Henk Bekedam, World Health Organization's chief official in Beijing, noting that the H5N1 virus that causes bird flu flourishes in autumn and winter months.

Smart-tek Solutions, Inc.'s strategy for the possible containment of the Bird Flu virus is to leverage its expertise in the security, surveillance and monitoring sectors.

Smart-tek Solutions, Inc. technology includes but is not limited to the ability to tag, program and count the specific number of birds, with end user defined rules, utilizing RFID protocols. Data such as 1) the number of birds 2) owner information 3) location information 4) species information and 5) inspection dates can all be programmed utilizing case by case specific needs of Organizations, Governments and Agencies.