China's Ministry of Agriculture on Friday confirmed one bird flu outbreak in the Zalantun city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

It said in a statement that 246 fouls died last Sunday in Zalantun and they were confirmed by a state avian flu lab as H5N1 subtype highly pathogenic bird flu cases.

The Ministry of Agriculture and local government are handling the outbreak in accordance with the emergency plans. Local veterinary departments have culled 16,567 poultry within three kilometers of the affected area.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2005)