The central government has extended immediate compensation to areas hit by bird flu, so as to effectively prevent and control the H5N1 virus, according to a source at the Ministry of Agriculture.

So far, 41 counties in 15 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have confirmed cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

The 15 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities are: Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Guangdong, Shanghai, Xinjiang, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Henan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Jiangxi, Tianjin and Tibet.

All poultry within 3 kilometers around the sites infected with bird flu should be killed and disposed of safely, and mass culling and compulsory vaccination should be done to all the poultry within 5 kilometers according to standards set by Ministry of Agriculture.

All the vaccination costs within 5 kilometers around the sites infected with bird flu will be shouldered by the government, and those in non-compulsory areas will be shared by the government and poultry breeders.

Villagers in Dingdang, in Guangxi's Long'an County, received compensation from the local government several hours after their poultry were killed.

Tang Bowen, head of Long'an County, praised the immediate compensation as an effective means to prevent and control bird flu.

Most villagers support the government's actions, Tang said. About 14,000 local fowls were killed, and another 10,000 were compulsorily vaccinated within one day.

The Chinese government is confident about the effectiveness of its prevention and control measures, said a Ministry of Agriculture official.

China has established a complete animal vaccination system, the official said, and 300 animal disease testing stations have been set up directly subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as 147 stations along China's borders.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2004)