BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Highly pathogenic bird flu outbreaks have been found in villages near Xiaogan of central China's Hubei Province and Hetian of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Ministry of Agriculture announced Thursday.

    From Nov. 5 to 11, 662 fowls raised by farmers in Jinggang village and Tianjing village near Xiaogan City died. On Nov. 10, 32 fowls died in a slaughterhouse and a village around Hetian City.

Epidemic prevention workers prepare to put killed poultry on trucks in Hetian of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Nov. 15, 2005. Highly pathogenic bird flu epidemic was reported in Hetian City of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday. (Xinhua Photo)

    Local veterinary departments suspected that they were highly pathogenic bird flu, and on Nov. 16, the national bird flu lab diagnosed that both cases were the H5N1 highly pathogenic bird flu.

    The Ministry of Agriculture has paid great attention to the bird flu outbreaks in the two regions, sending expert panels there quickly and enhancing blockage, slaughtering and innocuity disposal.

    Experts have gone to the epidemic zones to assist research and epidemic tracing work there, according to the ministry.

    The local governments in Hubei and Xinjiang launched their quick-response mechanism timely, blockading the epidemic zone immediately and disinfecting the people, vehicles and relevant goods going in and out.

    Currently, 2,722 and 86,215 fowls have been killed within a radius 3 km around the epidemic zone in Hubei and Xinjiang, respectively.

    Before these two cases, bird flu epidemic had been found in another two counties of Urumqi and Zepu in Xinjiang, and in Hubei's Jingshan County, but no human infections have been reported there. Enditem