CHINA AVIAN FLU

Chinese workers from the local animal epidemic prevention and control center, dressed in protective clothing, get samples of a chicken at a poultry market in Changsha city, central Chinas Hunan province, 7 April 2013.

China is confident it can control an outbreak of a new strain of bird flu, a senior Chinese health official said on Sunday (7 April 2013) as the World Health Organization (WHO) said there had now been 21 human cases of the H7N9 flu with six deaths. China has said it is mobilizing resources nationwide to combat the new strain, monitoring hundreds of close contacts of confirmed cases and culling tens of thousands of birds where traces of the virus were found.