The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday denied allegations of a bird flu outbreak in the country.

Official news agency KCNA rebuffed an Associated Press (AP) report that various types of fowl and a boy had died of bird flu, accusing AP of fabricating the epidemic situation to ruin the country's international image.

The DPRK has set up a state emergency anti-epizootic committee as a national command to combat bird flu, while maintaining close contact with several international organizations including the FAO(UN Food and Agriculture Organization) and the World Organization for Animal Health, KCNA said.

There is a well-organized anti-epizootic system in the DPRK, the agency said, adding that more than 1,600 watch posts along the east and west coasts are surveying the movement of seasonal birds, major carriers of the bird flu virus.

About 200,000 farm birds were culled when bird flu broke out in the country in March 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2008)