China and Vietnam have both confirmed new bird flu outbreaks that killed thousands of birds despite efforts to fight the disease.
The latest Chinese outbreak, discovered on October 26th, killed 8,940 chickens and prompted officials to destroy 369,900 other birds in Badaohao, a village in Liaoning province, east of Beijing, the Agriculture Ministry said yesterday.
China has reported three other bird flu outbreaks since October 14. No human cases have been reported, but authorities have warned that one is inevitable if the country fails to contain outbreaks in chickens and ducks.
In Vietnam, more than 3,000 poultry died or were culled this week in three villages in Bac Giang province, about 35 miles northeast of Hanoi, a local official said.
The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 62 people - including 41 in Vietnam, according to World Health Organization figures - and resulted in the deaths of more than 100 million chickens in Asia since 2003.
Most human cases have been traced to direct contact with sick birds, but experts worry the virus could mutate and become easily transmissible between humans, possibly triggering a deadly flu pandemic.
The Asian Development Bank yesterday warned that a global flu pandemic could kill up to three million people in Asia and plunge the world into recession.
It said that in a worst-case scenario, Asia could lose almost $282.7 billion - or 6.5 per cent of its gross domestic product - in consumption, trade and investment.