China's Ministry of Agriculture on Sunday received a report from the National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory confirming the previously suspected outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu in six areas.

The sites were: Xiangcheng District of Xiangfan City in Hubei Province; Chang'an District in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province;Gaolan County in Gansu Province; Pingjiang County in Hunan Province; Haifeng County in Guangdong Province; and Yongkang City in Zhejiang Province.

Suspected bird flu cases were reported Sunday in Xingning District of Nanning City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in Doumen District of Zhuhai City and Maogang District of Maoming City in Guangdong Province. Local governments have taken measures to bring the disease under control and no human infections have been reported.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2004)