China Saturday reported two new suspected bird flu cases in central China's Hubei Province and south China's Guangdong Province, said sources with the Ministry of Agriculture.

The ministry received reports Saturday, saying two suspected bird flu cases have occurred in Ezhou City of Hubei and Chao'an County of Guangdong, following three confirmed cases and three suspected outbreaks on the Chinese mainland.

The local governments forced sweeping slaughter and quarantine measures immediately and sent in related samples to the Harbin-based National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory. The epidemic has been brought under control, said sources with the ministry. No human infections have been found in the two regions.

The ministry has dispatched supervision teams to help the local governments fight against the bird flu epidemic.

The two outbreaks have been reported to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Hong Kong and Macao have also been informed of the new epidemic.

(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2004)