02.07.2012

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in northwestern China has confirmed an outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in chickens that has killed 1,600 birds and led to culling of more than 150,000 additional poultry, according to reports today by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In addition to the 1,600 deaths, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) reported that 5,500 other birds had symptoms in a flock of 156,439 chickens. XPCC is a unique economic and semi-military government organization of about 2.5 million people. Officials culled the remainder of the flock to control spread of the disease.