BEIJING, Nov. 4 Kyodo

An outbreak of the dangerous H5N1 strain of avian flu has been reported in northeast China's Liaoning Province, the fourth case of bird flu reported in three weeks in the country, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

The outbreak, which was found Oct. 26 in a village in Badaohao town in Heishan County of the province, resulted in the death of 8,940 chickens, Xinhua quoted the Agriculture Ministry as saying.

Local authorities cull 369,900 birds to avoid a spread of the disease and 13.9 million more were vaccinated, the ministry said.

China has also reported cases of bird flu outbreaks in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north, the east-central province of Anhui and the southern province of Hunan.

China has not reported cases of human infection of bird flu, which has occurred in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia since December 2003, with at least 62 of the 121 cases resulting in death -- all from the H5N1 strain of virus.

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