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New bird flu outbreak in China
08/06/2006 12:17 - (SA)
Beijing - A new outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in poultry in western China, says the government.
It was reported that the outbreak took place in a farm in Hetian county in the Xinjiang region. The report didn't say when the birds fell sick or how many were infected.
The reports said that tests confirmed the H5N1 virus on Wednesday. Examination stations had been set up in the area to disinfect vehicles.
China had reported more than 30 outbreaks of H5N1 in domestic and migratory birds since October. The strain had killed 128 people worldwide since it began spreading in Asia in late 2003.
It also was being blamed for the death or slaughter of some 200 million birds. Experts feared that the virus could mutate into a form easily passed between people.
So far, most human cases had been linked to contact with infected birds, although clusters of cases might indicate the virus was becoming more adept at infecting humans, not just birds.
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