China confirms bird flu outbreak

China has confirmed a new outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus in the central province of Hunan, state media has reported.

More than 11,000 poultry died of the virus in Shijiping village near Yiyang city, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Some 53,000 birds have since been culled and officials say that the outbreak is now under control.

China's last reported case was in March, when chickens died at a poultry market near the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

There were no reports of human infection in the latest outbreak.

A total of 15 people have died in China from the H5N1 virus and millions of birds have been culled.

Officials are working to vaccinate billions of domestic poultry by the end of May in preparation for the northward migration of wild birds in the summer, Xinhua news agency has said.

Since the H5N1 virus emerged in South East Asia in late 2003, it has claimed more than 180 lives around the world. Indonesia has been hardest hit, with more than 70 deaths.

Scientists fear the virus could mutate to a form which could be easily passed from human to human, triggering a pandemic and potentially putting millions of lives at risk.