China reports new bird flu outbreak in Shanxi
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-08 09:27

China reported a fresh outbreak of bird flu on Wednesday on a chicken farm in the northern province of Shanxi, and the Agriculture Ministry said it had been brought under control.

By Friday, 15,000 chickens in Yijing township, part of the coal-mining city of Yangquan, had died, the ministry said in a report on its Web site. They were confirmed to have the H5N1 strain on Tuesday.

Teams from the Agriculture Ministry had been sent to Yijing, where more than 187,000 chickens were culled, and the outbreak was brought under control, it said.

Scientists fear H5N1, which has killed at least 88 people around the world since it re-emerged in late 2003, could mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic.

With more poultry than anywhere else in the world, China is seen as a key battleground in fighting the disease.

It had more than 30 poultry outbreaks last year and has had at least 10 human cases, and Chinese officials have admitted that its vast size and lack of trained personnel at the local level mean there could be more cases going undetected.

Seven of its 10 human cases have died, but a six-year-old boy who fell ill with bird flu in the central province of Hunan was gaining weight and would soon be released from hospital, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Wednesday.

But Hong Kong, which is also struggling to prevent the spread of the disease, put a 20-month-old boy into isolation on Tuesday and ordered influenza tests after he was admitted with a fever and a cough.

A health department official said she expected test results later on Wednesday to ascertain whether the baby has bird flu.

Hong Kong announced a new suspected case of bird flu on Tuesday, after preliminary tests on a dead chicken turned up positive. It urged anyone who felt sick after coming into contact with chickens in the area to seek immediate medical advice.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong passed emergency legislation banning backyard poultry farming to try to tighten controls and curb the spread of the disease.