TAIPEI- The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture announced today that two large-scale bird flu outbreaks occurred in Urumuqi and Zepu counties in Xinjiang Uighur Ethnic Autonomous Region. An estimated 322,500 fowls have been killed in the areas surrounding the two sites.
Xinhua News Agency reported that 1,347 fowls died on November 9, 2005 in Kuiyibage Town, Zepu County. On the same day, some dead fowls were also discovered in Anning District, Urumuqi County.
On Nov 11, the Xinjiang Animal Disease Prevention Monitoring General Station tested the dead birds and suspected the cause to be bird flu. After further testing, the National Avian Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed on November 14 that both outbreaks were caused by the H5N1 bird flu virus.