BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese experts have completed the genetic map of the killer H5N1 bird flu virus and their next step will be looking at how the virus mutates.

    The mapping result was achieved by an avian disease research lab at the South China Agricultural University, which is in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong Province, according to Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily.

    The breakthrough will help scientist understand how the virus evolves, the paper quoted Xin Chao'an, a leading professor at the lab as well as a member of the national avian flu team of experts, as saying.

    Meanwhile, a previously suspected outbreak of the H5N1 strain in China's southwest has been confirmed by the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday. The outbreak is in Yunnan Province's Songming County.

    The local government has taken measures to cull poultry in affected areas and impose prompt quarantine restrictions, the ministry said.

    No new suspected cases were reported Tuesday, the ministry said.

    In another development, a South Korean expert has developed a vaccine for the virus, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

    The scientist plans to start using the vaccine on monkeys on March 8 and after about one month, move onto humans. He said the vaccine strain will be both applicable to humans and poultry.

    In the United States, genetic tests have shown that the bird flu virus found in a flock of chickens in Texas is far more serious than previously thought.While confirming the outbreak on Friday, authorities in Texas originally suggested that the H5N2 virus - discovered on a farm in Gonzales County, about 80 kilometres east of San Antonio - was a low-pathogenic strain.

    Based on latest genetic sequencing results, the strain has been reclassified as highly pathogenic, said Doctor Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian of the US Department of Agriculture.

    Also yesterday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue announced that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold a special meeting on dealing with bird flu on March 2 in Beijing.

    At the invitation of the Chinese Government, experts and officials at vice-ministerial level from relevant departments of the 10 ASEAN nations will attend the meeting.

    The ASEAN secretariat, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health will also participate in the meeting.

    (China Daily)