China's southern city of Guangzhou plans to cull another 10,000 domestic fowls following the outbreak of bird flu, according to local authorities.
At least 36,130 ducks had been culled as of Sept. 17 after a subtype H5N1 bird flu strain killed some 9,830 ducks raised in Sixian Village of Panyu District in Guangzhou City since Sept. 5, China's Ministry of Agriculture and the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory have confirmed.
The Panyu district government announced on Monday that all the 10,000 domestic fowls in the bird flu infected area will be culled. Compulsory vaccination and disinfections will be carried out within a radius of 5 square kilometers and all poultry markets within a 13-meter-radius surveillance zone will be closed.
The local government has pledged to compensate farmers for their economic losses and the amount of compensation will be decided soon.
More than 50 poultry farmers in the village are taking blood tests and medical checkups. A headquarters has been established to take charge of bird flu outbreak control and prevention, according to the local agricultural bureau.
Six supervision teams have been dispatched to different regions in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong Province, helping to enforce vaccination on all domestic fowls in the city as of next Tuesday, the bureau said.
As the world's largest producer of poultry, livestock and aquatic products, China suffers much economic losses from outbreaks of animal diseases. It is estimated that animal diseases cost China 40 billion yuan annually.
The previous reported case of H5N1 bird flu in China occurred in May in central China's Hunan Province, which killed more than 11,000 poultry with another 52,800 birds being culled.
China has reported 25 human cases of bird flu since 2003, which have resulted in 16 deaths.
(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2007)
