Hubei, Xinjiang report highly pathogenic bird flu (Xinhua) Updated: 2005-11-17 21:31 Highly pathogenic bird flu
outbreaks have been found in villages near Xiaogan of central China's Hubei
Province and Hetian of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the
Ministry of Agriculture announced Thursday.
From Nov. 5 to 11, 662 fowls raised by farmers in Jinggang village and
Tianjing village near Xiaogan City died. On Nov. 10, 32 fowls died in a
slaughterhouse and a village around Hetian City.
Local veterinary departments suspected that they were highly pathogenic bird
flu, and on Nov. 16, the national bird flu lab diagnosed that both cases were
the H5N1 highly pathogenic bird flu.
The Ministry of Agriculture has paid great attention to the bird flu
outbreaks in the two regions, sending expert panels there quickly and enhancing
blockage, slaughtering and innocuity disposal.
Experts have gone to the epidemic zones to assist research and epidemic
tracing work there, according to the ministry.
The local governments in Hubei and Xinjiang launched their quick-response
mechanism timely, blockading the epidemic zone immediately and disinfecting the
people, vehicles and relevant goods going in and out.
Currently, 2,722 and 86,215 fowls have been killed within a radius 3 km
around the epidemic zone in Hubei and Xinjiang, respectively.
Before these two cases, bird flu epidemic had been found in another two
counties of Urumqi and Zepu in Xinjiang, and in Hubei's Jingshan County, but no
human infections have been reported there.
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