China's Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday refuted a rumor on the Internet spread by a Japanese virologist saying China has had several hundred human deaths from bird flu.

"The rumor is absolutely groundless," MOH spokesman Mao Qun'an told Xinhua in an interview.

"MOH has confirmed from the World Health Organization (WHO) Beijing office that there was no Japanese expert in WHO's mission in Hunan Province early this month," said Mao.

All the reports quoting this so-called Japanese expert said that China has had several hundred human fatalities from bird flu were unreasonable and without foundation, he stressed.

China so far reported three confirmed human cases of bird flu, including two deaths in east China's Anhui Province and one recovered case in central province of Hunan.

In the areas where bird flu outbreaks occurred, health authorities have put all the people who closely contacted with sick and dead poultry under strict medical observation. Surveillance, reporting and separate treatment of fever and respiratory cases have also been strengthened, said Mao.

MOH has made timely report to WHO, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and some countries on each confirmed case and has immediately released the information to the public as well, he said.

The cooperation between the Chinese government and WHO on bird flu control has been going smoothly, a spokesman at WHO headquarters was quoted by Mao as saying.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday refuted rumors that China was hiding human cases of bird flu.

Dick Thompson, an official of WHO, told reporters that concerning some news reports in German newspapers, he wanted to say that WHO did not believe that China was hiding any human cases of bird flu.

WHO believed that China was notifying the organization as rapidly as it could and it was being as transparent as possible in this outbreak, he said.

The Japanese expert named Masato Tashiro said last week that in Germany that bird flu has killed 300 people in China, including seven cases caused by human-to-human transmission, according to reports on the Internet portals including "news scientist" and "WorldNet daily".

New Bird Flu Outbreak Reported in Inner Mongolia

China's Ministry of Agriculture on Friday confirmed one bird flu outbreak in the Zalantun city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

It said in a statement that 246 fouls died last Sunday in Zalantun and they were confirmed by a state avian flu lab as H5N1 subtype highly pathogenic bird flu cases.

The Ministry of Agriculture and local government are handling the outbreak in accordance with the emergency plans. Local veterinary departments have culled 16,567 poultry within three kilometers of the affected area.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2005)