BEIJING - AUTHORITIES in northern China killed more than 20,000 dogs to quell a rabies outbreak, a local official and state media said on Tuesday.

Eight people have died from rabies since March in Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province, with another two suspected cases in the hospital, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Rabies outbreaks and dog-killing campaigns are common in China, with more 2,000 people dying every year after being bitten by rabid dogs.

Rabies has spread to 11 counties, and more than 5,000 people have been bitten or scratched by dogs since March, the head of the Hanzhong agricultural bureau, Qin Mingxian, was quoted as saying. It was not clear if all the dogs were rabid.

Xinhua said government teams under the direction of the police killed dogs in areas of the outbreak, including wild dogs and dogs in public spaces such as schools and parks.

Unregistered dogs were killed on the spot, said Ye Zhoujun of the news department of the Hanzhong propaganda office.

'People must register their dogs and vaccinate them,' he said. -- AP