Bird flu virus found in Xinjiang in China

[HenryTo]

Just FYI. I don't think this current outbreak would be of any significance, though. But just wanted to update y'all anyway.
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Thursday June 9, 12:52 PM
Bird flu virus found in Xinjiang in China, over 13,000 geese culled
(Kyodo) _ China has detected the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in China's far western region of Xinjiang and culled more than 13,000 geese to prevent the spread of the disease, Hong Kong health authorities said Thursday.

The geese, from a farm in Tacheng Prefecture in Xinjiang, included 1,042 geese showing signs of illness, the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said in a statement late Wednesday.

Of the 1,042 geese that tested positive for the virus, 460 died, it said. The bureau was informed of the outbreak by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on Wednesday afternoon under a notification system.

Vaccines have been given to all poultry farms in nearby areas and the situation is now under control, the statement said.

Hong Kong does not import live geese or poultry meat from the region, the statement said.

Avian flu was thought only transmittable among birds until 1997 when the first human infection cases were found in Hong Kong, with six out of 18 infected people dying. The six were killed by the H5N1 strain, which has the highest death rate.

The H5N1 virus spread through Asia from late 2003, wreaking havoc in the region's poultry industry. It jumped to humans, killing almost 50 people in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

[rffrydr]

More than flu plagues this province. Perhaps the longest running, least covered mini-civil war in the world:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/world/asia/06china.html?_r=1&hp