China reports bird flu outbreak in northwest

BEIJING, July 21 (Reuters) China has reported a bird flu outbreak in its far northwestern region of Xinjiang, the Agriculture Ministry said today.

The outbreak was detected on July 14 in a community in Xinjiang's Aksu city and the H5N1 strain of avian flu had killed about 3,000 birds, leading to the culling of another 356,976, the ministry said on its Web site (www.agri.gov.cn).

Emergency measures had been taken and the outbreak was under control, it said.

An outbreak of the H5N1 virus in poultry in the northern province of Shanxi led to the culling of about 1.5 million birds in June.

China has reported about 40 outbreaks of bird flu in birds across a dozen provinces and regions over the past year and, since November, 12 people are known to have died from the virus while six have recovered.

The latest human case of bird flu was confirmed on June 15 in the southern city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, bringing the country's total human infections to 19. State media have said that the man, previously in a critical condition, was improving.

The H5N1 virus has spread among birds across Asia, Europe and Africa. Contact with infected birds is the most common way to contract the virus.

Scientists fear H5N1 will mutate into a strain that spreads between humans, sparking a pandemic in which millions of people could die around the globe.

Reuters DKA RS1903