Bird flu outbreaks have so far taken place in five Chinese provinces and regions, generating more devotion from local governments in strengthening precautionary measures against the spread of avian flu.

Chinese Health Minister Gao Qiang said at a ministerial-level international meeting in Canada on Tuesday that China has set up 192 flu monitoring stations nationwide. The ministry will send doctors and experts to asses the health of local people if a monitoring station reports evidence of a bird flu outbreak.

In southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where China's first case of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu was found last January, all poultry in stock has been vaccinated.

The autonomous region bordering Vietnam breeds some 800 million poultry a year. The regional government has dispatched quarantine personnel to guard 230 border entrances checking the imports of poultry, birds and marine products.

At the Dongxing Customs, a road checkpoint linking Guangxi to Vietnam, the carpet in the hall way has been sprinkled with antisepsis liquid medicine to disinfect passengers' soles.

In Liangying Village, in Tianchang City of east China's Anhui Province, where the recent H5N1 bird flu outbreak left 550 poultry dead, and a total of 44,736 live poultry were killed. All poultry farms have vaccinated their stock so far in the city.

The infected area is still being cordoned. Villagers are under medical observation in case of human infection.

In Xiangtan County of central China's Hunan Province, a suspected epidemic was verified by the national bird flu lab on Tuesday as an outbreak of H5N1 virus, which has killed 545 poultry.

So far, all poultry in the affected area have been killed and deeply buried. Neighborhood flocks have been given bird-flu vaccines.

The coastal metropolis of Shanghai has taken comprehensive preparations against all contagious diseases, since the autumn season usually witnesses a high incidence rate of flu, intestinal and respiratory diseases.

Although the city has taken strict measures to ensure the safety of poulty on dinner tables, it is still on high alert of possible transmission of bird flu from migratory birds.

Tianchang, seated on the course of migratory birds' migration route between Siberia in the north and Australia in the south, is a midway rest place for one million migratory birds every year. All monitoring stations in the city are checking migratory birds' activities round-the-clock.

Source: Xinhua