News - China Reports New Bird Flu Outbreak, Bringing Total to 26

China reported one new outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in poultry, bringing the number of cases to 26 in the country this year.

Turpan city in the western province of Xinjiang reported 11 poultry died on Nov. 17, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on its Web site late yesterday. China's National Avian Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed the birds were infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus, the ministry said.

Authorities in Xinjiang killed 5,180 birds within a three- kilometer (1.9-mile) radius of the infection site, the statement said.

The virus has infected about 130 people in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China and killed 67 of them, the World Health Organization said on Nov. 17. Bird flu outbreaks in poultry increase the risk of the virus mutating into a strain that's more easily transmissible between humans, leading to a pandemic that may kill millions.

China's government, which on Nov. 21 ordered local governments to report cases of avian influenza and other animal diseases within four hours of discovery to China's cabinet, the State Council, has reported three human cases and two deaths from the virus as of Nov. 23.

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