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China Culls 18,000 Chickens After H5N1 Bird Flu Cases in Hunan

A city in China’s central Hunan province reported that it had culled almost 18,000 chickens after an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu

China Culls 18,000 Chickens After H5N1 Bird Flu Cases in Hunan
Chickens sit in a cage at the Shekou wet market in Shenzhen, China. (Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- A city in China’s central Hunan province reported that it had culled almost 18,000 chickens after an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in statement on its website Saturday.

The statement didn’t say when the outbreak occurred, or when the cull happened. Hunan is next to Hubei, the epicenter of the separate coronavirus outbreak.

The avian influenza, found in a farm in Shaoyang City, killed 4,500 chickens, more than half the farm’s flock, the ministry said. The city culled almost 18,000 poultry after the outbreak. The statement said the outbreak was of a “highly pathogenic subtype” of the H5N1 flu.

Since 2003, the H5N1 avian flu has killed 455 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Emma Dong in Shanghai at edong10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, James Mayger, Peter Vercoe

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With assistance from Bloomberg