From correspondents in Beijing, China, 07:00 PM IST

China Tuesday confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in the southern province of Guangdong but said it was under control.

Laboratory tests of dead ducks at Yashan village recently detected the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, the agriculture ministry said in a brief statement, without saying when the outbreak took place.

It said some 17,127 ducks were culled.

Emergency measures have been taken and the epidemic has been brought under control, the ministry said.

The country has reported seven bird flu outbreaks since the beginning of 2008.

This year the health ministry has reported three human infections of the virus, all in February, in the central province of Henan, Guangxi Zhuang region in the south and Guangdong. All the three infected people died.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)