Agriculture Ministry said on Saturday May 18,cases of bird flu have been confirmed among wild fowl in western China,as concerns grow over an outbreak in the United States infecting cattle herds.
China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a notice that 275 cases of H5 influenza have been confirmed in two counties in Qinghai province among dead Pallas’ gulls and other wild birds.
The ministry received a report on the cases from the China Animal Disease Control Centre, and the national Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed the finding, the notice said.
The H5N1 outbreak among dairy cattle in at least nine US states since late March has raised questions over whether it could spread to humans. No such cases in humans have been reported.
The US announced on May 11 that it would spend close to US$200 million (S$269 million) to fight the outbreak.
News of the cases in China came as the nation’s anti-graft watchdog announced a corruption probe of the country’s Agriculture Minister on May 18.
