Now, it is dealing with its latest outbreak of another potentially lethal disease with determination and efficiency -- in its own communist style.

Like the way communist leaders used to send propaganda cadres to every township and village to publicise their political directives, China has again resorted to its grass-root messengers to carry out education and action campaigns to stem bird flu.

In times like this, the top-down approach of communist-style fiat does seem to have an impact reaching the rural masses and making them aware of the seriousness and danger of a possible pandemic.

In and around Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia region, city dwellers and villagers in far flung rural areas have all quickly heard of the bird flu outbreak in Tengjiaying village this month -- and are told to take a variety of measures.

Barely days after news of the outbreak broke, villagers near the infected farm said local cadres and quarantine officers went door to door to take away every chicken, goose and duck kept at their homes.

Gao Fenglan from Luojiaying village said the village government has since returned to inspect every household on a daily basis to ensure no one still has fowl.

"I heard that they have dug a big ditch somewhere and burned the chickens there," the grandmother said. "We're not scared. Now they have destroyed the chickens, it should be fine."

Entrances of other nearby villages with larger-scale commercial chicken farms were guarded by police and quarantine officers in full protective gear, who carefully scrutinised people and vehicles driving into village, registering and spraying disinfectant at them before allowing them through.

So far, the local government has culled more than 91,000 birds within a three kilometre (two mile) radius of the farm and imposed a 21-day quarantine on poultry in the area, health officials have said.

Chicken farmers in Shuaijiaying village, some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the infected zone, said quarantine officers were going to their farms on a daily basis to apply disinfectant and provide them with vaccines to inoculate their chickens.

"They came and sterilised the farm several times and sprayed disinfectant on us. They said we are obliged to report immediately if there is any sign of the illness," said Li Cui'e, who relies on selling eggs for her family's income.

Even in the absence of hard promises on compensation, villagers who have been made aware of the potential seriousness of a bird flu pandemic said they would dutifully report illnesses if they occur on their farms.

"People are important, chickens are not important," Li said, repeating the slogan that villagers from Luojiaying has also recited earlier.

"If we don't, we were told we'll have to shoulder the legal responsibility," another chicken farmer Guo Fengying said.

"They told us that we might earn 10,000 yuan (1,230 dollars) a year, but Hohhot is a big city and if people die, how much more would it cost?"

China's Ministry of Agriculture warned that people who tried to cover up or delay the reporting of bird flu would be prosecuted.

In Hohhot city, market stall operators said sales of live poultry were banned and officers guard the market entrances and confiscate chickens from people seen taking them into the markets.

Frozen meat vendors said quarantine officers have been round every few days to check their quarantine certificates for frozen chickens.

China was widely condemned for its initial cover-up and slow response to the deadly outbreak of SARS in 2003, which killed almost 800 people in a worldwide outbreak that infected more than 8,000.

But China's political determination this time round has impressed even international health officials.

Noureddin Mona, China representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said that the Chinese government appeared to be taking the threat of bird flu very seriously.

"We feel the cooperation we are getting from China is really great, it's transparent. They report the outbreaks swiftly and the cooperation is very smooth, especially in information sharing," he said.

Critics, however, have argued China's state-run media have been slow to report the issue in a comprehensive manner, resulting in villagers in some provinces eating chickens which died mysteriously, probably from bird flu.

The State Forestry Administration has set up 118 monitoring stations across the country charged with looking out for sudden, abnormal deaths among migratory birds.

China's health and agricultural ministries have vowed an all-out effort to contain the disease and strengthened monitoring around the country and mandates that all bird flu outbreaks must be reported to authorities in Beijing within three hours of their detection.

Two more outbreaks of bird flu have been reported over the past week, in the provinces of Hunan and Anhui, although Chinese officials insist that no human case has yet been found.

According to the WHO, China witnessed around 50 outbreaks of bird flu last year in 16 provinces.

Asia has been battling bird flu since late 2003, with vaccination campaigns and massive culls of tens of millions of chickens and ducks. At least 60 people have died although no human infections have been reported in China.

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