The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed over the weekend an outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus among poultry in the central province of Hunan, but said there were no cases of human infection.

It said the outbreak, at Shijiping Village in Yiyang, killed more than 11,000 heads of poultry. A further 53,000 poultry were culled as part of an emergency response to prevent any spread of the disease.

Scientists attributed the poultry deaths to H5N1, the strain of avian influenza that scientists fear could mutate into a form that jumps easily from human to human, threatening an epidemic.

However, local health departments reported no human cases and the ministry said an inspection among poultry in 769 villages near the area hit showed no spread of the disease.

"The outbreak has been brought under control," the ministry said.

China, with millions of backyard birds and a strained medical system, is seen as key in the fight against bird flu. The last confirmed case in the country occurred March 1 when 680 chickens died in a market in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. It was reported that nearly 7,000 birds were culled at that time.

The Ministry of Health also reported in March the death of a 16-year-old boy surnamed Wu in East China's Anhui Province. Tests by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the boy had been infected with the H5N1 virus, bringing to 15 the number of people in the country who have been killed by the virus.

To better fight the virus and prepare for the migration of wild birds north in the summer, efforts are underway to vaccinate billions of domestic birds by the end of this month, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Source: China Daily/agencies