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.
(
Planet Ark, 17/08/2006)