BEIJING, May 22 (UPI) -- China has banned people from migratory birds' habitats and is urging only limited contact with domesticated poultry to help prevent the spread of bird flu.
Chinese officials introduced the emergency measures, including quarantine and disinfection steps, after the discovery that migratory birds had died from the virus earlier this month, Xinhua, China's main government-run news agency, reported Sunday.
Bird flu has killed at least 53 people in Southeast Asia since late 2003 and, in China, the most recently confirmed case occurred last July, the BBC reported Sunday.
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture said the migratory birds killed by the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu were found in the remote western province of Qinghai in early May.
China's Ministry of Agriculture urged people pay close attention to the newly confirmed cases of migratory birds and take effective measures to prevent an epidemic.
