Bird flu kills 1,800 ducks in China, 210,000 culled

BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) About 1,800 ducks have died from bird flu at a farm in central China and more than 210,000 have been culled, the online edition of Xinhua news agency said today.

A total of 1,805 ducks have died at the farm in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, since the first poultry death was reported on Aug. 4, Xinhuanet quoted the agriculture ministry as saying.

About 217,000 ducks at the farm have been culled, Xinhuanet said.

A national laboratory confirmed yesterday that the ducks had died from the H5N1 bird flu virus, it said.

About 40 bird flu outbreaks in poultry have been reported in a dozen Chinese provinces in the past year.

Yesterday, the Health Ministry said a 62-year-old farmer from Jimsar county in the northwestern region of Xinjiang died on July 12 from the H5N1 strain, bringing the nationwide bird flu death toll to 14.

It was 21st human case of bird flu in China.

REUTERS SP VC2045