January 30, 2008

China confirms bird flu outbreak in Tibet

The Chinese government confirmed Tuesday (January 29, 2008) a fresh outbreak of bird flu among poultry in Tibet, the Ministry of Agriculture said, Kyodo News reported.

The China National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed the suspected case in Gongga County on Friday was caused by the H5N1 strain, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site, Kyodo reported.

About 1,000 poultry died in the outbreak, and 13,080 poultry have been culled to prevent the spread of the disease, according to the statement, Kyodo reported.