China yesterday confirmed five more cases of bird flu infowl —one in a new province—and said four more suspectedo utbreaks of the disease had been detected.

Four cases were confirmed inthe eastern province of Anhuiand one was determined inJiangxi Province —where noprevious cases of bird flu hadbeen confirmed,according to theMinistry of Agriculture.

One suspected case each wasalso found in Jiangxi and Yunnanprovinces and two in the provinceof Guangdong.

The latest figures mean thatthe country has 32bird flu outbreaks,including 10confirmedones and 22suspected ones,in13mainland regions.

So far,no cases of human infectionof bird flu have been reportedand bird flu has beenbrought under control in areashit by the disease on the Chinesemainland,Vice HealthMinister Wang Longde said ata press conference in Beijingyesterday.

Wang rejected rumors circulatingin recent days of humancases,saying they were groundlessand that there was no attemptat a cover-up.

“I can say in a responsible waythat there is no human infectionin China,”Wang said,slowinghis words for emphasis.

Added Vice Agriculture MinisterLiu Jian,“It is not true thatwe have this disease (in humans)but did not report it.”

While vowing stringent measuresto stop the virus before itspreads to people,Liu acknowledgedthat defenses against birdflu are “weak and vulnerable”inparts of China because of thecountry’s size and its developingreporting systems.

Liu promised to boost communicationbetween the centralgovernment in Beijing and localofficials and vowed to continuepaying compensation to farmerswhose chickens and ducks werekilled to contain the disease.

He said researchers werestudying possible virus mutationand that surveillance has beenstepped up,especially along thecountry’s borders,where infectedpoultry might slip in.

“The Chinese government isconfident in the fight,”Liu said.

He acknowledged that “someparts of our animal disease-preventionsystem are weak andvulnerable,and the public haslimited knowledge about the diseaseand ways to prevent it.”

Liu said the sheer size ofChina and its still-improving diseasereporting systems have beendrawbacks in the fight.

“The poultry population inChina is quite big,and productionmethods are quite diverse.

That has brought us some difficultiesin controlling this epidemic,”

he said.“It remains anarduous task for China.”

Jia Youling,a poultry expertwith the ministry,urged cautionwhen eating eggs but said therewas no cause for serious alarm.

“There is a chance that in affectedregions eggs may carrybird flu,”Jia said.“We suggestthat when eating eggs,they bevery well boiled.”

Liu said China’s previouslyannounced plans to destroy allpoultry in a three-kilometer radiusof an “affected locality”

were being carried out.

As of Wednesday,more than1.2million chickens,ducks andgeese had been slaughteredacross China to prevent thespread of the disease.

Two new vaccine plants arescheduled to start productionsoon,Liu said.No human vaccinehas been developed for thebird flu now striking much ofAsia,but experts believe that anexisting animal vaccine providesat least partial protection fromthe current strain.