The two H5N1 outbreaks were found many miles apart, in the northwestern Xinjiang province and the central province of Hubei.

Local governments in both provinces were quick to respond to the reports, blockading the epidemic zones and disinfecting people, vehicles and goods moving in and out of the infected areas, Xinhua news agency reported.

No humans appear to have been infected in connection with either outbreak.

Also in China, the World Health Organization has announced that it expects to see reports of further avian-influenza outbreaks over coming months.

"We expect there will be more poultry outbreaks," said Henk Bekedam, the WHO's chief representative in Beijing. "In this cold weather, the virus can survive longer in the climate and therefore have a bigger chance to infect poultry. The moment you have more poultry outbreaks, you will also expect more humans to be exposed to the poultry and therefore it (human cases) can indeed happen."

The WHO also praised the Chinese government's openness about bird flu and commended the current levels of transparency when compared with the government's response to SARS in 2003.

"We certainly have seen a large level of political commitment from the central government which has given Chinese authorities the power to act and to increase surveillance across the country," said WHO spokeswoman Maria Cheng.

"And, certainly with the number of outbreaks that they are reporting, it is important that we have a good surveillance of this disease in animals and in humans. So, we have seen surveillance be reinforced across the country to look for any suspicious or unusual clusters of disease, which is essentially how these cases were picked up."

Meanwhile:

- Indonesia has announced two further deaths from avian flu, bringing the country's present total to seven. Both deaths occurred in the capital city of Jakarta last week, but confirmation of avian influenza was only received from a Hong Kong laboratory on Thursday.

A further suspected case of infection has been reported and is currently awaiting confirmation.

- Multinational corporations are beginning to respond to bird flu, preparing to "safeguard operations, protect far-flung staff, and map alternate work sites in case of a quarantine," The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Hotel chains, including Marriott International, have begun stockpiling respiratory masks for guests and workers. United Airlines has begun to carry respiratory masks on board its planes and has acquired biohazard bags for use by passengers with flu-like symptoms.

Microsoft, in line with many other multinational employers, has begun to expand its telecommuting capacity in order to enable the continuation of operations should governments advise workers to stay at home. Additionally, the company is educating all its workers in preventative flu measures and is distributing hand sanitizers.

3M has increased its production of respiratory masks, and all traveling executives have been given supplies of Tamiflu, in addition to masks and gloves.

- The H7N3 strain of avian influenza discovered in Taiwan earlier this week has been confirmed to be a low-pathogenic strain of the virus and is unlikely to cause disease in either birds or humans.

- Vietnamese officials have issued orders that all birds must be removed from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi by Monday in an attempt to stop the spread of bird flu in the highly populous areas.

Compensation will be paid at half the market value for all birds killed before the Monday deadline. Any birds found alive after Monday will be destroyed and no compensation offered.

- Never ones to shy away from the potential profits offered by a crisis, spammers are flooding inboxes with offers of Tamiflu.

Recipients are urged to report the spam to their Internet Service Providers and to resist any urges they may have to buy the drug themselves.

Tamiflu is a prescription-only drug, and there is no guarantee that supplies available on the Internet are either genuine or safe.

Self-administration of genuine Tamiflu is dangerous in itself, as it can both mask symptoms of avian influenza and increase resistance to the anti-viral.

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