December 16, 2005

China's Jiangxi detects bird flu 
 

China has reported a bird flu outbreak in the eastern Jiangxi province, the country's first in over two weeks.

1,640 ducks at a farm died of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu, the agriculture ministry said. The farm was located in Quanjiang village in Suichuan county.

This marked China's 31st outbreak of bird flu this year, according to official data.

The previous outbreak was reported in the western Xinjiang province in late November.

Local veterinary authorities have culled 150,000 poultry within a three-kilometre radius of the outbreak, the ministry said.

Authorities have also suspended cross-province deliveries of live poultry and poultry meat from Jiangxi, according to the Health, Welfare & Food Bureau.