October 25, 2005

Bird flu hits 2,100 geese in China

A bird flu outbreak has hit 2,100 geese in eastern China and killed about a quarter of the flock, a UN official announced on Oct 25.

The country's Agriculture Ministry confirmed on Oct 24 that the birds, a portion of which have died of the H5N1 virus, were found near Tianchang, a city in Anhui province, said the Food and Agriculture Organization's China representative Noureddin Mona.

The ministry did not say where or when the geese were infected, Mona added. This outbreak-the country's second in a week-was detected on Oct 20.

About 140,000 birds have since been vaccinated, with another 45,000 culled within a 3-mile radius of the site.

While bird flu has claimed at least 61 lives across Asia since 2003, China has not reported any human infections.

Recently, countries across Europe, such as Russia, Turkey, Britain and Romania, have reported bird flu outbreaks.