China culls 6 million birds in avian flu-hit region

BEIJING, Monday (Reuters) China has culled 6 million birds in a northeastern region of China hit by the country's fourth outbreak of avian flu in a month, state media said on Monday.

All poultry within a 3-km (2-mile) radius of the site in Liaoning province where the deadly H5N1 virus was found last week had been killed, Xinhua news agency said.

China has yet to report any human cases of bird flu from the latest outbreaks, but on Sunday said it would invite World Health Organisation experts to probe three suspicious cases of pneumonia in the southern province of Hunan, the site of one of the recent outbreaks of bird flu.

Tests on the three did not show the presence of H5N1, Xinhua said, but it added the virus could not be ruled out due to the fact the three lived close to the site of the outbreak. One, a 12-year-old girl, died. Authorities had placed 192 people in the area, one of whom has acute bronchitis, under medical observation, the China Daily said, citing the health ministry.

Bird flu has killed more than 60 people in Asia and infected at least 123 since late 2003. In almost every case, the virus appears to have been transmitted to humans through contact with birds.