China's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said on Sunday that no bird flu epidemics were detected in Shanxi and Hunan provinces after a two-year-old girl was confirmed to have been infected with the H5N1 strain of virus in Shanxi on Saturday.

The girl, surnamed Peng, was found ill on January 7 in central Hunan Province. Her grandparents took her to Luliang City of Shanxi on January 11. Peng was still in critical condition on Sunday.

Sixty-seven people who have been in close contact with Peng are under medical observation. No one has been found ill so far.

Tests conducted in poultry farms and agriculture product markets in places where the girl had been to or around had found no abnormality, the MOA said.

The ministry urged local veterinary departments in the two provinces to enhance check on major poultry markets and disinfect the markets thoroughly.

China now faces "a grim situation" in bird flu prevention, threatened by frequent outbreaks in neighboring countries, the MOA has said. Other threats came from brisk poultry trade ahead of the Spring Festival and difficulties in taking prevention measures at loosely managed household farms.

The MOA urged intensified check nationwide, especially in regions with high risk of bird flu outbreak, and timely disposing of poultry samples which were tested with bird flu virus.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2009)