A nation-wide immunization check has been launched in China's vast rural areas to ensure the bird flu epidemic remain under control.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture said in its website Wednesday that 31 groups of inspectors have been dispatched to 248 villages selected from 62 counties in the country.

The campaign was organized by the China Animal Disease Control Center (CADC), a newly-established department under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Officials with the CADC said some underdeveloped regions, in mountainous and lake areas that lie along the flight paths of migratory birds and poultry market fairs and regions that have reported cares of the bird flu will be the key areas for the immunization inspection.

Chinese government hopes that the check will find out whether its previous immunization efforts worked to prevent the spread of the bird flu.

The campaign may also help inform the government of existing problems, said officials with the CADC.

The Ministry of Agriculture started to prepare the CADC since March this year. In the past months, the new center which is undergoing trial operations, has been involved in containing outbreaks of the bird flu and the foot-and-mouth disease.

The CADC will be officially inaugurated on Friday.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2006)