BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- China informed the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization (WHO) of its bird flu epidemic on Tuesday, January 27, the day the deadly virus was confirmed to have been found in the country.

    On Tuesday, the national bird flu reference laboratory confirmed that the death of ducks in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was caused by the deadly H5N1 strain of the birdflu virus.

    Soon afterwards, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Health held emergency meetings with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization's officer-in-charge in China Robert Brown and WHO's representative in China Henk Bekedam, respectively, notifying them of the latest developments of the epidemic in the country and the measures that had been taken.

    After listening to the agriculture ministry's report on the epidemic and the measures the Chinese government had taken in accordance with the country's Law on Animal Epidemic Prevention, Brown thanked the ministry for the timely reporting of the diseaseand nodded to the measures, expressing confidence in China's capability in preventing the epidemic from further spreading.

    He said the UN Food and Agricultural Organization gave high attention to the development of bird flu in Asia, including China,and stands ready to give China its full support.

    After listening to the health ministry's report, Bekedam said China's timely notification demonstrates the Chinese government's openness and transparency in treating the epidemic.

    He said China's fight against the severe acute respiratory syndrome last year has left the international community with a deep impression, and he believed the Chinese government would do even better now in dealing with the bird flu.

    Although the disease has not spread to humans, Bekedam said efforts should be enhanced in containing its transmission from poultry to humans. He pledged the willingness of the WHO to help China in preventing and treating the disease and to further step up the two sides' cooperation.

Chinese top leaders stress control of bird flu

    BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have stressed that the prevention and control work against bird flu should be conducted effectively based on scientific knowledge and in line with the law, following the confirmation of China's first bird flu cases on Tuesday.

    They asked local governments to maintain high alert against the deadly virus and strengthen monitoring of the H5N1 strain of bird flu after the cases were confirmed in Long'an County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

    If cases of bird flu are spotted, all the infected poultry mustbe slaughtered and the affected areas must be sanitized to preventfurther spread, they stressed.

    They said that local governments should keep the virus within the polluted region and prevent it from spreading to humans to ensure the safety of people.

    Local governments across the country have made painstaking efforts to carry out these measures in a coordinated manner for the prevention and control of bird flu.    The ministries of agriculture and health thanked the two international organizations for their support to the Chinese government, and expressed hopes to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with relevant international organizations in preventing and treating the bird flu.