China confirms 21 bird flu outbreaks in 9 provinces

China has by now confirmed 21 bird flu outbreaks in nine provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, Yin Chengjie, Vice Minister of Agriculture, said in a news conference Monday in Beijing.

The bird flu outbreaks killed 144,624 poultry while a further 21,184,200 were culled, Yin said, warning the H5N1 situation in the country was "severe".

All poultry within a three-kilometre radius of the affected spots are ordered to be culled, a measure taken by the Chinese government to curb further outbreaks.

Migratory and wild birds are suffering seriously from the bird flu virus, with the number of the virus-afflicted dead birds hitting a record high this year, Yin said.

Analysts said that the bird flu outbreaks in China are closely related to the migratory and wild birds, he added.

Source: Xinhua