The Ministry of Agriculture announced today that another
outbreak of avian influenza has been reported in China, this time
in the northeastern province of Liaoning, and that 8,940 chickens
have died of the disease there.
It said chickens were found dead on family farms in a village in
Badaohao Township, Heishan County in the prefecture of Jinzhou on
October 26.
Local veterinarians initially thought it was Newcastle disease
when they reported the deaths to the provincial animal health
supervision administration, which made a preliminary diagnosis of
bird flu on November 1.
Samples from the dead chickens were sent to the National Avian
Flu Reference Laboratory, and it confirmed the presence of the
deadly H5N1 strain of the virus two days later.
The disease has affected five other towns in Heishan, which is
on the East Asia-Australia migratory bird route, and the ministry
said experts believed this outbreak may have begun through
transmission from migratory birds.
Twenty magpies and other wild birds have also been found dead
there, according to the ministry.
A total of 369,900 domestic fowl within a radius of three
kilometers have been culled and 13.9 million vaccinated, the
ministry said.
Agriculture Minister Du Qinglin, together with a team of
experts, is on his way to the affected areas and the provincial
government has initiated measures with local governments to control
the situation.
No human deaths have been reported in the outbreak, the fourth
to be confirmed in China in the last 17 days.
(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2005)