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A little over 24 hours ago we learned of an outbreak of bird flu among ducks in Guangdong Province, near Hong Kong. Early reports were devoid of much detail.
Today we have a bit more more information from the Macau Daily Times.
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Authorities in southern China have begun destroying poultry after bird flu was detected to stop the disease spreading, state press said yesterday.
The outbreak was confirmed as the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus by the agriculture ministry yesterday after poultry began dying in Jiangmen city, Guangdong province, last week, Xinhua news agency reported.
Nearly 3,900 ducks have died, while another 17,000 fowls were culled due to fears that they could be carrying the virus, the report said.
The government has ordered measures to contain the outbreak and to disinfect the area, the report added. Preliminary efforts show that the "epidemic has been effectively contained," it said.
The outbreak in Guangdong comes after the H5N1 virus was found in a market in neighbouring Hong Kong, prompting the city to ban all live poultry imports from China on Saturday, June 7.
Live poultry imports from mainland China would be suspended for 21 days while an investigation was carried out, officials in Hong Kong said.
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