June 8, 2006

Bird flu virus found in Xinjiang poultry

China has confirmed a fresh outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus among poultry in the western region of Xinjiang, the official Xinhua News agency reported on Thursday (Jun 8).

The Ministry of Agriculture said poultry on a farm in Hetian county had died from the bird flu virus.

It is not known how many many birds were infected.

The Agriculture Ministry has sent experts to the area to control the outbreak, and officials were inspecting and disinfecting people and vehicles passing in and out of the area, Xinhua said.

China has reported about 40 outbreaks of bird flu in birds across a dozen provinces over the past year, and 12 people are known to have died from the virus.

About 400 wild birds have been killed by the bird flu virus in Qinghai province in the Western region in late May and the province has since come under close surveillance.