Premier Wen Jiabao has called on the nation to intensify efforts to fight avian influenza as he said the country is facing a "very serious situation" in controlling the epidemic.

The danger of the spread of bird flu still exists in some areas, the premier said on Tuesday during an inspection tour of Heishan County in northeast China's Liaoning Province, the site of one recent outbreak amongst domestic and wild birds.

He urged local governments to pay great attention to the epidemic and focus on the prevention of the disease jumping to humans, a task he said was "arduous."

China has the largest poultry population and local governments should fully realize the great danger of the epidemic, Wen stressed, adding that governments at all levels should carry out prevention and control measures and not slack off in prevention work.

Provinces with large poultry numbers and areas close to regions already affected should make emergency plans, set up sound emergency systems and store up materials and equipment that would be needed, Wen said.

All regions should strengthen the exchange of information and cooperation to control the epidemic, said Wen.

Up until Wen’s inspection, China had confirmed four outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu amongst birds since October 19, and two more were confirmed in Liaoning yesterday.

More than 10 million poultry have been culled in the region since the outbreak in Heishan, with task forces have been set up to provide quarantine and medical services.

Health authorities fear that the more the H5N1 virus spreads the greater chance it has to mutate into a strain highly contagious among humans.

Bird flu has killed more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since 2003, and three possible cases, including one death, in the central province of Hunan are currently being investigated.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2005)