Information received on 18, 20, 22 and 23 November 2005 from Mr Jia Youling, Director General, Veterinary Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing:
End of previous report period: 17 November 2005 (see Disease Information, 18 [46], 435, dated 18 November 2005).
End of this report period: 23 November 2005.
Precise identification of agent: highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5N1.
Date of first confirmation of the event: 7 June 2005.
Nature of diagnosis: clinical, post-mortem and laboratory.
Details of new outbreaks:
| First administrative division | Lower administrative division | Type of epidemiological unit | Name of the location | Date of start of the outbreak | Species | Number of animals in the outbreaks | ||||
| susceptible | cases | deaths | destroyed | slaughtered | ||||||
| Hubei province | Shishou city | village | Swan economic developing area | Nov. 2005 | avi | 7,300 | 3,500 | 3,500 | 3,800 | 0 |
| Inner Mongolia autonomous region | Molidawa Dawo´er autonomous county | village | Wulan | 15 Nov. 2005 | avi | 176 | 176 | 3,202 | 0 | |
| Ningxia autonomous region | Yinchuan city | village | Shangqian Cheng | 17 Nov. 2005 | avi | 1,130 | 294 | 230 | 900 | 0 |
| Shanxi province | Xiaoyi city | village | Gaoyang | 10 Nov. 2005 | avi | 9,386 | 8,103 | 8,103 | 1,283 | 0 |
| Xinjiang autonomous region | Miquan city | village | Niuzhuangzi | 15 Nov. 2005 | avi | 6,120 | 2,064 | 2,064 | 4,056 | 0 |
| Xinjiang autonomous region | Urumchi city | village | Daban Cheng | 16 Nov. 2005 | avi | 125 | 38 | 38 | 87 | 0 |
| Xinjiang autonomous region | Urumchi city | village | Wulabo | 12 Nov. 2005 | avi | 56 | 8 | 8 | 48 | 0 |
| Yunnan province | Chuxiong city | village | Hehua | 17 Nov. 2005 | avi | 11,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 | 8,500 | 0 |
Description of affected population in the new outbreaks: chickens and geese.
Diagnosis:
| Laboratory where diagnostic tests were performed | Diagnostic tests used | Date | Results |
| Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin (national reference laboratory for avian influenza) |
- haemagglutination inhibition test; - RT-PCR(1). |
16-23 Nov. 2005 | positive |
| intravenous pathogenicity index (IVPI) test | 16-23 Nov. 2005 | positive (highly pathogenic) |
Source of new outbreaks: contact with wild birds.
Control measures undertaken:
- stamping out applied to 254,464 birds around the outbreaks;
- quarantine;
- movement control inside the country;
- screening;
- zoning;
- vaccination;
- disinfection of infected premises/establishments;
- dipping/spraying.
Final report: no.
(1) RT-PCR: reverse transcriptase - polymerase chain reaction