China confirms new bird flu outbreak in southwest

More than 1,800 poultry were found dead on December 22 on a farm in Sichuan's Dazhu county and Agriculture Ministry officials sent to the area confirmed the birds had the H5N1 strain of the virus.

Since then, 12,900 poultry in the region had been culled to try to contain the virus, which is found mostly in birds but which scientists fear could mutate into a form that can pass easily between people, leading to a pandemic.

In response to the latest outbreak, Hong Kong's government said it had stopped processing requests to import live poultry and poultry meat from Sichuan.

Scientists are worried because the virus, although hard for humans to catch, has killed more than half the people reported to have been infected.