Shanghai. December 17.
The H5N1 bird flu virus recently discovered in eastern China's Jiangsu Province may have mutated, local authorities announced on Dec. 17.
According to the Jiangsu Department of Agriculture and Forestry, bird flu-infected chickens in Jiangsu's Dongtai City and Hai'an county had been vaccinated against the virus although a new H5N1 virus strain has emerged and is unlike other strains previously discovered in southern China.
Jiangsu authorities reported the detection of the deadly H5N1 virus in poultry on Dec. 15 and have since ordered the culling of 377,000 poultry across the province. The Ministry of Agriculture announced on Dec. 15 that the outbreak in the two major poultry-rearing regions in Jiangsu may be attributed to migratory birds.
In the meantime, the National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory in Heilongjiang Province is running further tests on the virus, according to the Jiangsu Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
The MoA has also ordered chickens in the province to be vaccinated with a new vaccine in a bid to contain the outbreak.
Just last week, Hong Kong culled nearly 80,000 chickens after health authorities confirmed three chickens tested positive for the H5N1 virus. On Dec. 15, a 16-year-old girl died of bird flu in Egypt following contact with poultry.
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