China and Vietnam on Friday each confirmed new bird flu outbreaks, while Japanese authorities said 180,000 chickens would be killed after signs of the virus were found at a farm. Adding to global jitters about bird flu, the Asian Development Bank warned in a report that a flu pandemic could kill up to 3 million people in Asia, cost the region billions and plunge the world into recession. China's latest outbreak _ the fourth in the past three weeks in the world's most populous country _ killed almost 9,000 chickens on Oct. 26 in Badaohao village in Liaoning province east of Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday, citing the Agriculture Ministry. The outbreak prompted authorities destroy 369,900 other birds in the region, Xinhua said, and came despite efforts to tighten controls on China's 5.2 billion chickens, ducks and other poultry. Hong Kong immediately banned poultry imports from Liaoning, reflecting growing concern that China is becoming a potential bird flu flashpoint. Beijing created an anti-flu task force this week and a 2 billion yuan (US$250 million; euro200 million) fund to pay for anti-disease work. In the latest anti-bird flu measure, Beijing ordered hospitals to report data on flu cases daily to the government, Xinhua said. No human cases have been reported in China, but authorities warn it is inevitable if the government can't stop repeated outbreaks in poultry. In Vietnam, more than 3,000 poultry died or were culled this week in three villages in Bac Giang province, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Hanoi, provincial vice chairman Nguyen Dang said. Transporting poultry to or from the three villages was banned, and the towns and those around them have been disinfected and remaining poultry vaccinated, said provincial chairman Nguyen Dang Khoa. Vietnam expects more cases during flu season from November to March. «We expect more outbreaks, not just in Bac Giang, but also in other provinces,» said Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of the Animal Health Department. «Cooler weather now makes it easier for the virus to spread.» In Japan, authorities said antibody testing had found that chickens at a farm in Ibaraki state had been exposed to a virus of the H5 strain, and that 180,000 birds would be culled. About 1.5 million birds have already been killed in the state after finding signs of the disease at other farms. The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 62 people _ including 41 in Vietnam _ and resulted in the deaths of more than 100 million birds in Asia since 2003. --SP 1513 Local Time 1213 GMT
