China's Ministry of Agriculture said Saturday the viruses of
H5N1 from suspected bird flu carcases have distinctive geographic
features, and are remote in kin relationship to those that hit Hong
Kong in 1997.
Quoting a report from the National Bird Flu Reference
Laboratory, the ministry said that four strains of the H5N1 virus
were taken from bird carcases suspected of carrying bird flu in
Long'an County in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China,
Wuxue city in Hubei Province, and Wugang city in Hunan
Province.
Gene sequencing of the four strains has been completed, and
initial analysis of the results indicates the viruses are
distinctively related to their geographic locations, and are remote
in kinship to the strains of H5N1 II bird flu virus separated in
Hong Kong in 1997, according to a spokesman with the ministry on
the fight against the bird flu.
On China's mainland, the highly infectious H5N1 strain of bird
flu can only be examined and confirmed by the National Bird Flu
Reference Laboratory, based in Harbin, the capital of northeast
China's Heilongjiang Province.
(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2004)