BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) - China will vaccinate billions of domestic poultry over the next few months to guard against an outbreak of bird flu this spring, when the virus is at its most contagious, state media reported on Monday. China's Agriculture Ministry ordered the vaccination campaign to begin before March 15 and end before May, Xinhua news agency said. During spring months, migratory birds fly north to summer nesting grounds, providing fertile conditions for spreading the deadly H5N1 virus. "The ministry will also send experts to help monitor the breeding of poultry and waterfowl, and intensify monitoring of live poultry markets, border areas and regions where bird flu outbreaks were reported in the past," Xinhua said. Notice of the campaign comes days after health authorities confirmed a woman from China's southeastern Fujian province had been infected with bird flu. She remains in hospital, Xinhua said. China has reported a total of 23 human cases of bird flu, including 14 deaths, since 2003. The virus has re-emerged in recent months in Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Japan, South Korea, Afghanistan, Britain, and killed a string of people in Indonesia. Although it remains mainly a bird-borne disease and has killed only 167 people since 2003, experts fear the virus may start a pandemic and kills millions if it learns to transmit rapidly between humans.
