China has confirmed that suspected outbreaks of bird flu in Hubei and Hunan provinces are the deadly H5N1 strain that has been found in several southeast Asian countries.
The official Xinhua news agency said authorities are investigating suspected outbreaks in Anhui and Guangdong provinces and a suburb of Shanghai.
There are no human infections and the outbreaks are under effective control, the news agency added. Poultry culls have begun and quarantines have been put in place.
China had confirmed on Tuesday its first outbreak, in the southern region of Guangxi bordering Vietnam, of the deadly virus that has killed six people in Vietnam and two in Thailand.