Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region yesterday reported its seventh outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza amongst birds in less than ten days, as the WHO said it would send a team to the eastern province of Anhui after a woman was confirmed to have been killed by the same virus.

The latest outbreak struck a family farm in Xinjiang's Turpan City and killed 11 birds on November 17, according to the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday, and it was confirmed as the H5N1 strain by the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory.

This, the country's 26th reported outbreak in birds this year, makes Xinjiang the most-afflicted area in China.

Three of the most recent outbreaks have occurred in or around Urumqi, the regional capital, according to the ministry's website.

The ministry and local governments are handling the latest outbreak in accordance with emergency plans, officials said.

Veterinary workers have culled 5,180 poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of the affected area in line with standard practice, the ministry said in a statement.

The WHO, in response to Wednesday's report that a second person in Anhui had died after infection with H5N1, yesterday said they would send an investigation team there next week.

A 35-year-old Xiuning County farmer named Xu developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on November 11 after having had contact with sick and dead poultry, and she died on November 22.

"The Ministry of Health has invited WHO experts to join a team to investigate both cases in Anhui. Final details are still being worked out," said Julie Hall, coordinator of epidemic alert and response at WHO's Beijing office.

Health authorities yesterday intensified an information campaign on preventing human infections, using prime-time TV slots and major newspapers urging people to maintain a hygienic and healthy lifestyle; and process poultry products with caution.

The ministry has also published an updated version of Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines for Human Infection by Avian Influenza, detailing the sources, symptoms, prevention and treatment for health workers.

In a related development, the UN said on Wednesday that it supports China's massive animal vaccination program to combat bird flu, but cautioned that quality control on vaccines must be assured.

In a circular issued on Wednesday, the State Council China's cabinet asked local governments to support and supervise designated vaccine producers, and strike hard at those manufacturing fakes.

In Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, where the water supply has been cut off since midnight on Tuesday, production of vaccines has not been affected, said Han Biao, an executive of Harbin Pharmaceuticals Group's First Biological Products Plant.

The plant, one of nine designated vaccine producers in China, produces 60 percent of doses used in the country, Xinhua News Agency reported.

(China Daily November 25, 2005)