Northwest China's Qinghai Province, where bird flu broke out in May, has activated a daily surveillance since Tuesday, and reinforced the surveillance over the bird migration regions, to strictly prevent against the bird flu, the provincial forestry authority said Tuesday.

"Regions around the Qinghai Lake, Three-River Headwaters and Hol Xil are major places for birds' migration and propagation in winter." Said Gao Jingyu, an official with the Qinghai Forestry Administration.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, including swans and pochards, come to the Qinghai Lake to live through the wintertime, said Gao.

The provincial department has set up three surveillance centers on wild animal epidemic diseases, to patrol and supervise the activities of the wild animals. In May, bird flu broke out in the Bird Island of the Qinghai Lake, and nearly 6,000 migratory birds died. "The chance is slim for bird flu to break out again here, since these birds seldom migrate during winter," said Gao, "but we will always keep alert."

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2005)