The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture on Friday received a report from the National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory, confirming that bird flu cases have occurred in Wuxue city of Hubei Province and Wugang city of Hunan Province, both in central China.

Since the epidemic was spotted, local governments enforced sweeping poultry culling and prompt quarantine measures. To date, the epidemic situation in the two places has been well controlled, said the report.

Meanwhile, the report shows that suspected bird flu cases were spotted in Guangde county and Ma'anshan city of east China's Anhui Province, Nanhui district of Shanghai municipality and Jiedong county of southern China's Guangdong Province.

Poultry slaughter and quarantine measures have been taken in those areas and the suspected avian influenza-hit poultry have been delivered to relevant organizations for medical monitoring. The epidemic situation in those areas is under control and no infections in human beings have been found.

Inspection teams, jointly dispatched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Public Health and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, have gone to the bird flu-affected areas in an effort to inspect the local prevention and control work.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Public Health have reported those new suspected cases to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the relevant departments in Hong Kong and Macao.

(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2004)