China's chief veterinary officer on Thursday warned that bird flu is on the rise among migratory birds in China this year.

Jia Youling said in a statement to Xinhua that great progress has been made in China's fight against avian influenza this year, but the virus was killing a rising number of wild birds.

Jia, director of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau under the Ministry of Agriculture, said bird flu among migratory birds in China last year was only found near Qinghai Lake in the southwestern Qinghai province.

However, this year the scope had been enlarged to Jinzhou and Panjin cities in the northeastern Liaoning province, and to Yushu, Golog and Haibei prefectures in Qinghai, and Nagqu in Tibet Autonomous Region.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 1,168 migratory birds had been found dead in Qinghai and Tibet by June 1. The disease was striking more species of wild birds than last year.

Experts said these areas were all on bird migration routes between east Africa and west Asia.

Countries and regions on this route had reported outbreaks of avian influenza since July 2005, including Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, China, India and others, said experts.

Jia said the Ministry of Agriculture would target future supervision on the migration paths in China, especially on areas with a record of infection, and border and lake areas.

A nationwide immunization drive had also been launched in China's vast rural areas to contain the virus.

The ministry said 31 groups of inspectors had been dispatched to 248 villages in 62 counties around the country to study the effectiveness of previous immunization efforts. They found the measures had proved effective in rural areas.

The Ministry of Agriculture would study migration patterns of the wide birds to prepare for the epidemic controls in autumn, another peak migration season.

Source: Xinhua