A suspected bird flu case in Baicheng City in northeast China's Jilin Province was reported on Monday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

This is the first case of suspected or confirmed deadly H5N1 bird flu ever occurred in northeast China.

Jia Youling, spokesman in charge of bird flu prevention and control at the ministry, said seven suspected H5N1 bird flu cases in China have been confirmed by the National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory.

The seven confirmed bird flu cases were Macheng City, Songzi City, Honghu City, Gong'an County and Yangxin County in central China's Hubei Province, Shaoguang City in south China's Guangdong Province and Lhasa City in Tibet Autonomous Region.

He said these bird flu-hit areas have taken measures to control the highly pathogenic avian flu, including culling and vaccination, and the epidemic in these areas are now under control.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2004)