the h5n1 strain of bird flu virus, which is dangerous for human beings, is spreading across Asia, according to official reports submitted to the World Organisation for Animal Health (oie) by China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mangolia. Laboratory tests of the outbreaks in these countries show that the strain is the same as the one found in migratory birds in China.

Kazakhstan's agriculture ministry, in its August 9, 2005, report to oie, confirmed that a recent outbreak of avian flu in Pavlodar province involved the highly pathogenic h5n1 strain. Simultaneously, China, in its report, also confirmed the spread of bird flu in Tibet. This virus was likely to be the h5n1 strain found in migratory birds at Qinghai Lake.

This is the third region in China to be hit by h5n1, after the western Xinjiang and Qinghai provinces. Mongolia also witnessed the death of 89 migratory birds due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza