Monday, November 7 2005 16:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: Amid concerns that China may have the first cases of the deadly bird flu in humans, authorities in the avian flu-hit Heishan county in northeast China's Liaonoing province have culled six million poultry to prevent a pandemic in the world's most populous country.

The Communist nation had yesterday (Nov 06, 2005) sought help from the WHO to ascertain whether a 12-year-old girl in Hunan province died of avian flu and also whether she infected her nine-year-old brother and a 36-year-old schoolteacher.

"Six million poultry have been culled in the bird flu-hit county of Heishan with the assistance of the armed forces and experts," the local government announced last night.

The culling lasted from Saturday evening to yesterday afternoon, with all poultry slaughtered within a radius of three kilometres from the epidemic site, deputy secretary-general of the Jinzhou municipal government, Wang Yunwen said.

Local farmers actively cooperated with the government offering compensation for the compulsory culling.

The county allocated USD 1.16 million to the townships yesterday, he added.

Chinese vice minister of agriculture, Niu Dun arrived at the county with 11 experts. Three experts gave lectures on bird flu prevention to about 150 officials.

Local publicity department is also producing CDs of the lectures and publishing booklets on bird flu prevention for distribution among the people living in the affected areas.

Heishan county is located on the migratory birds' route from East Asia to Australia, and more than 20 magpies and other dead wild birds have been spotted.