The health ministry said a 24-year-old woman in the eastern province of Anhui died of the bird flu on November 10 after falling ill on November 1. Anhui has been the scene of two bird flu outbreaks in recent weeks.

"One to two weeks before she died, chickens and ducks raised by her family had died, and she had been in contact with the dead poultry," the state-run Xinhua agency said, citing the health ministry.

A 12-year-old girl from an infected area in neighbouring Hunan province who died on October 17 was also "suspected" to have been a victim of H5N1, the ministry said, adding it was following World Health Organisationguidelines in making its findings.

"Experts from the health ministry have inferred that (the 12-year-old girl) may have been infected with H5N1," a ministry statement carried by Xinhua said.

"But because reliable laboratory samples are not available, this cannot be confirmed as a case of bird flu according to the WHO's definition."

The ministry confirmed that the girl's brother, aged nine, was infected with bird flu. He has since recovered and was discharged from hospital last week.

The siblings had been in close contact with infected chicken, the health ministry said.

The WHO said it had confirmed similar findings to the health ministry.

"We accept only two of those cases... that's the nine-year-old boy in Hunan and a 24-year-old woman in Anhui," Geneva-based WHO spokesman for infectious diseases, Dick Thompson, told AFP by telephone.

Thompson said "it may be likely" that the 12-year-old died of bird flu.

"But according to our case definition we need samples that can be confirmed in the laboratory, and the samples weren't of a quality that could be used to determine whether or not she did indeed have bird flu," he said.

Following Beijing's announcement, Hong Kong said it would within 48 hours reactivate temperature screening at the two main border crossings with mainland China.

More than 60 people have died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Southeast Asia since 2003.

However the first confirmed cases of bird flu in the world's most populous nation will undoubtedly set off even louder alarm bells about a potential global pandemic that could kill millions of people.

Scientists warn that continued contact between infected birds and humans might eventually result in the virus mutating into a form that could be easily passed on between people.

China has the world's biggest poultry industry, with billion of chickens existing in cramped conditions and close to humans, especially in rural areas.

Adding to the danger is that three of the world's major bird migratory routes pass through China. Migratory birds are regarded as the main carriers of the virus around the world.

China has reported 11 outbreaks of bird flu over the past month and, despite massive efforts to control the virus, has appeared unable to contain its spread.

Aside from Hunan and Anhui, outbreaks have been reported in the far northwest region of Xinjiang, northeastern Liaoning province, Inner Mongolia in the far north and central Hubei.

The government announced on Tuesday it would try to vaccinate its entire poultry stock of 14 billion fowl.

In Liaoning, where three of the outbreaks have occurred, government officials said 10 million poultry had been culled across the province, while another 320 million had been vaccinated.

Farmers have also been banned from raising their chickens outdoors in an effort to stop them coming into contact with migratory birds.

In the capital of Beijing, all live poultry and bird markets were shut down early this month.

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