November 29, 2005

China finds two new bird flu outbreaks 
 

China has discovered two new bird flu outbreaks among poultry in the north-western Xinjiang region and the central province of Hunan, the Agriculture Ministry said Tuesday.

About 300 poultry died in Shanshan county in Xinjiang on Nov 22 and regional experts confirmed Nov 25 that they were stricken by the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, the ministry said in a report posted on its website.

In Yongzhou city, Hunan province, about 400 birds died on Nov 18 and the cause was determined on Nov 25 to be the same strain of bird flu, the ministry said.

It said that 52,000 birds were culled within a three-kilometre radius of the Shanshan county outbreak, and 13,500 within the same area surrounding the Yongzhou outbreak.

The report did not say what types of poultry were sickened by bird flu.

Authorities were conducting emergency vaccinations, it said.

China has reported 24 outbreaks of bird flu among poultry in recent weeks. It has reported three confirmed human cases of the disease, two of them fatal.