A highly pathogenic bird flu outbreak has been found in a village near Huainan city of eastern China's Anhui Province, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Monday.

On Nov. 6, 800 fowls raised by farmers in Fanwei village nearby the Huainan city died. On Nov. 10, a local veterinary department suspected that it was highly pathogenic bird flu, and on Nov. 14, the national bird flu lab diagnosed that it was the H5N1 highly pathogenic bird flu.

The Ministry of Agriculture has paid great attention to the bird flu outbreak in Anhui Province, sending expert panels and supervision teams several times there, and enhancing blockage, slaughtering and innocuity disposal work there.

Recently the director of the national epizootiology research center also went to the epidemic zone to assist research and epidemic tracing work, according to the ministry.

The local government in Anhui launched its quick-response mechanism timely, blockading the epidemic zone immediately and disinfecting the people, vehicles and relevant goods going in and out.

All the poultry in the epidemic zone have been killed and disposed of innocuously, and all the poultry markets within 10 kilometers from the epidemic zone have been closed. Currently, 126,185 fowls have been killed within 3 kilometers of the epidemic zone.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2005)