Two more bird flu outbreaks reported
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-20 21:46

BEIJING, November 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinses Ministry of Agriculture Sunday confirmed bird flu outbreaks in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and central China's Hubei Province.

It noted in a statement that a total of 176 chickens, ducks and geese died Tuesday in the banner (or county) of Morin Dawa in Inner Mongolia before they were confirmed by a state avian flu lab as H5N1 subtype highly pathogenic bird flu cases.

Separately, the same kind of bird flu killed 3,500 geese Wednesday at a development zone in Shishou City of Hubei Province.

The Ministry of Agriculture has sent a team of experts to help contain the disease, and local veterinary departments have culled the poultry near the affected area, the statement said.

China on Friday reported two new outbreaks of bird flu among its vast poultry flocks as it released dozens of farmers and villagers from medical observation with clean bills of health.

The latest poultry outbreaks were hundreds of miles apart — in the northern province of Shanxi and the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, the Xinhua News Agency said. All poultry on nearby farms were killed as a precaution.

China has reported 15 outbreaks of bird flu in poultry since Oct. 19 and has promised tough control measures to prevent human infections.

The country confirmed its first human cases of bird flu on Wednesday — a woman who died and a boy who recovered. The boy's sister, who died, is a suspected case. But dozens of people who had contact with the three patients showed no signs of the disease, Xinhua said.

At least 67 people in Asia have died of bird flu since 2003, when the virulent H5N1 strain became entrenched in poultry populations. Vietnam has reported two-thirds of the human deaths.

China's central and provincial governments have been trumpeting their prevention and surveillance measures while state media has given wide play to the disease and official efforts to combat it.