The governments of northwest China' s Gansu and Shaanxi provinces have implemented rigorous measures to deal with two suspected bird flu cases.

After suspected bird flu were found in Anning District of Lanzhou City and Jingyuan County of Baiyin City on Jan. 31 and Gaolan County of Lanzhou City on Feb. 3, the Gansu government ordered the three areas closed and poultry culled.

The epidemic had not yet spread and no human infection had been reported. Vaccinations of poultry were being conducted in areas 5 to 10 km around the affected areas, said Huang Quancheng, deputy director for the Gansu Provincial Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

The provincial government had sent six inspection teams to 14 cities and prefectures to oversee the quarantine on poultry products.

In Shaanxi Province, the government has sent quarantine officials to 11 prefectures and cities and allocated 1 million yuan (US$120,480) to purchase bacterin and disinfecting equipment, since a suspected bird flu case was spotted in the provincial capital, Xi'an, on Feb. 3.

The 24 inter-province highway animal quarantine checkpoints in Shaanxi were on high alert, inspecting and disinfecting outgoing and inbound motor vehicles containing poultry.

Chicken farms with at least 1,000 birds have completed vaccinations and closed to outsiders.