The Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed two more bird flu outbreaks in poultry in the country's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and central provinceof Hunan.

The ministry said 288 poultry died on Nov. 22 in Shanshan County in Xinjiang. After a preliminary analysis, the regional vets department believed on Nov. 25 that the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic bird flu could be the killer.

A state avian flu lab confirmed the hypothesis on Monday, the ministry said in a statement. By Monday night, vets authorities in Xinjiang had culled 52,162 poultry within three km from the affected areas, it said.

The lab also confirmed another bird flu outbreak on Nov. 18 that killed 390 chickens and 12 ducks in Laobutou village, Qilidian town of Lingling district in Yongzhou, Hunan Province.

By Monday night, vets authorities had culled 75,428 poultry in Lingling district.

Ministry of Agriculture and local governments are handling the two outbreaks in accordance with emergency plans. The ministry has also sent experts to the affected areas to oversee their quarantine work and disease control efforts.

Meanwhile, Hunan has sent 500,000 ml of bird flu vaccine to Lingling district for emergency vaccination, said officials with the provincial diseases prevention and control headquarters.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2005)