China's Agriculture Ministry Monday announced four new suspected cases of bird flu in the northern port city of Tianjin, the central Hubei Province, the southwestern Yunnan Province, and the northwestern Shaanxi Province.  

Jia Youling, spokesman of the ministry's bird flu control task force, said the affected areas were Jinnan District in Tianjin, Macheng City in Hubei, Anning City in Yunnan, and Huayin in Shaanxi.

Local governments had implemented emergency measures and there were no cases of human infection of the avian influenza, said Jia.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2004)