The latest scare came in the central province of Hunan where 545 chickens and ducks fell ill and died from the H5N1 strain, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a report filed to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

So far, 2,487 birds have been culled in Wantang village in Xiangtan county since the virus was found there on Saturday.

According to the OIE website, precautionary measures have been taken, including vaccinations and disinfection of infected areas, and the state Xinhua news agency said the outbreak was effectively controlled.

It is the third outbreak in China in a week, following cases in Inner Mongolia, in the north of the country, and Anhui province in the east.

The China Daily reported Wednesday that the Anhui scare was also under control.

"The epidemic has been stamped out and no new outbreak spots have been found," the agriculture ministry said. "Anhui implemented a chain of emergency control measures."

Wei Jianzhong, vice-director of the Animal Husbandry and Aquaculture Institute of Anhui Agricultural University, said the probable cause of that outbreak was contact with migratory birds and wild water fowl.

The period between September and November is considered the most risky in China as migratory birds are heading south for the winter, potentially contributing to a rapid, irreversible spread of the dangerous virus.

Chinese leaders have warned the country faces a grave threat from avian influenza, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since late 2003, although no human infections have been reported in China so far.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the H5N1 strain may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious and could kill millions of people worldwide.

After its cover-up of the SARS crisis in 2003, the government has been praised for its transparency in tackling bird flu by the WHO and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

But while information appears to be flowing quickly to the experts, many Chinese newspapers are not reporting developments.

The government-run English language China Daily, which carried a front-page report, warned in an editorial that the public needs to be properly informed about what is going on.

"The fact that three global migration routes cross Chinese territory, coupled with loose poultry breeding standards, increases the difficulty of keeping the situation under control," it said.

"Information disclosure must be transparent to ensure public confidence in the authorities.

"Truth is sometimes covered up to prevent public panic. But the SARS crisis demonstrated that the public can in fact be made to panic more if fed rumours rather than calm accounts of reality."

As part of emergency plans to prevent a disastrous outbreak, China's health and agricultural ministries have intensified their coordination and strengthened monitoring around the country.

Beijing and other large cities have set up sterilization stations at major highways and road entries to check all poultry transported on trucks.

Authorities in the capital have also launched a thorough check of all poultry and bird markets, demanding all live poultry on sale have certificates proving they come from areas not infected by bird flu, Xinhua said.

A rapid response plan issued this week said all bird flu outbreaks must be reported to authorities in Beijing within three hours of their detection.

China is one of the world's largest chicken producers and has seen at least seven outbreaks so far this year, after 50 outbreaks in 16 provinces last year. mp/it

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