China reports birdflu in Tibetan poultry

China said that an outbreak of birdflu had killed 268 chickens at a poultry farm in the Tibet region.

Tests by a national laboratory showed the birds had died from the H5N1 strain of the virus, but it is now under control in the affected area, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on its Web site (www.agri.gov.cn).

Bird flu tends to be more active in low temperatures and since the start of this year China has reported three confirmed human deaths from the disease and several outbreaks in poultry.

With the world's biggest poultry population and hundreds of millions of farmers raising birds in their backyards, China is seen as crucial in the global fight against the virus.