November 21, 2005

China reports two new bird flu outbreaks

China on Friday confirmed two new outbreaks of bird flu in poultry, bringing to 13 the number of cases reported nationwide since Oct 19.

The latest outbreaks were hundreds of miles apart-in the northern province of Shanxi and the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, the government's Xinhua News Agency said.

China earlier this week confirmed its first human cases of bird flu-two people who had close contact with sick poultry. One person has died and the other is recovering, state media have said.

In the Shanxi outbreak, 8,103 birds were discovered dead last week in the city of Xiaoyi, the news agency said. In Xinjiang, eight birds were found dead in the regional capital, Urumqi, it said.

China's national bird flu lab has confirmed the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu in both cases, Xinhua said.

All poultry within two miles of the outbreak sites were culled as a precaution, it said.