Hunan culls chickens after H5N1 bird flu outbreak
18,000 chickens culled in China's south after outbreak of highly pathogenic strain of virus
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BEIJING • A city in China's southern Hunan province reported that it had culled almost 18,000 chickens after an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 bird flu virus, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said.
The case occurred on a farm in Shaoyang city with 7,850 chickens, 4,500 of which have died of the bird flu.
The ministry, in statement on its website on Saturday, did not say when the outbreak occurred, or when the cull happened. However, the authorities have culled 17,828 poultry following the outbreak.
No human cases of the H5N1 virus has been reported.
China is not alone in grappling with the H5N1 outbreak.
India has reported an outbreak of the highly contagious H5N1 bird flu virus on a poultry farm in the central state of Chhattisgarh, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said last Wednesday, citing a report from India's fisheries and animal husbandry ministry.
The virus killed 5,634 out of 21,060 birds on the farm in Baikunthpur and all of the remaining birds were slaughtered, the Paris-based OIE said in an website alert.
Since 2003, the H5N1 avian flu has killed 455 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The latest H5N1 outbreak comes as China and countries around the world are trying to tackle the Wuhan virus outbreak that has killed more than 300 people. More than 14,000 people across China have been infected by the virus.
Last week, the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, but said global trade and travel restrictions are not needed.
Still, the epidemic has led to mass evacuations of foreign citizens even as airlines halt flights.
REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
