China’s agriculture ministry said on Monday that the highly pathogenic H5N6 bird flu had been found in wild birds in a park in the northeastern province of Liaoning.
There were 291 wild birds at the park; eleven were killed by the disease, the remaining 280 birds were killed by the government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement.
Bird flu or avian flu is similar to swine flu and human flu. It’s an illness caused by strains of influenza viruses that have adapted to a specific host.
The H5N6 bird flu virus can jump to humans. A case was reported in February when a five-year-old boy was infected with this type of avian flu. He had been exposed to chickens at a farm.
A series of outbreaks of bird flu have been reported in Europe and Asia in recent months.
So far, the only solution governments have is mass killing all animals when bird flu is detected, even healthy animals.
