Bird flu kills ducks in central China

[Lyro]

BIRD FLU KILLS 1,800 DUCKS IN CHINA, 210,000 CULLED
By Sue Pleming (Reuters)
August 16, 2006

Beijing -- About 1,800 ducks have died from bird flu at a farm in central China and more than 210,000 have been culled, the online edition of Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

A total of 1,805 ducks have died at the farm in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, since the first poultry death was reported on Aug. 4, Xinhuanet (www.xinhuanet.com) quoted the agriculture ministry as saying.

About 217,000 ducks at the farm have been culled, Xinhuanet said.

A national laboratory confirmed on Monday the ducks had died from the H5N1 bird flu virus, it said.

About 40 bird flu outbreaks in poultry have been reported in a dozen Chinese provinces in the past year.

On Monday, the Health Ministry said a 62-year-old farmer from Jimsar county in the northwestern region of Xinjiang died on July 12 from the H5N1 strain, bringing the nationwide bird flu death toll to 14.

It was 21st human case of bird flu in China.

Source

 

[Theresa42]

China reports fresh outbreak of bird flu

China reports fresh outbreak of bird flu

China reports fresh outbreak of bird flu
(AFP)

16 August 2006

BEIJING - China reported on Wednesday a fresh outbreak of bird flu at a duck farm that led to the slaughter of more than 200,000 fowl.

Ducks began getting sick and dying at the farm in Changsha city, Hunan province in central China, on August 4, the Ministry of Agriculture said on its website.

By August 10, 1,805 ducks had died as local officials implemented emergency measures to begin the cull, with 217,000 fowl since killed, it said.

Neighboring poultry farms in the region remain under normal operation with no other outbreaks reported, according to the ministry.

Following testing of samples from the dead birds, the state veterinarian laboratory confirmed Monday that the ducks carried the H5N1 virus, it said.

The outbreak was the first in China since July 14 and the 38th reported among poultry nationwide since October last year.

Twenty-one people in China have contracted bird flu, and 14 of them died, according to official figures. The most recent fatality occurred last month in the western region of Xinjiang.

China confirmed this month that its first human bird flu victim died in late 2003, two years earlier than previously reported.

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