November 18, 2005

China reports two new bird flu outbreaks

China on Thursday reported two new outbreaks of bird flu in poultry a few hundred miles apart, both in regions that had previous outbreaks.

China has now reported 13 outbreaks nationwide since Oct 19. Two people have been confirmed to have died from bird flu.

The latest outbreaks were in central China's Hubei province and the far north-western region of Xinjiang, the government's official Xinhua News Agency said.

In Hubei, poultry started dying at a farm in the city of Xiaogan on Nov 5, with 662 birds dead by Nov 11, Xinhua said.

In Hetian, a city in Xinjiang, 32 chickens died of suspicious causes on Monday, it said.

The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has been confirmed in both outbreaks, the agency said.

All poultry within two miles of the outbreak sites were culled-or 88,937 in all, Xinhua said.

China announced plans this week to vaccinate all of its 14 billion poultry.