The Ministry of Agriculture announced Saturday that the deaths of migratory birds found in the western province of Qinghai were caused by bird flu, marking the first time the virus has been found in China since last year.

The ministry has asked local governments to prohibit people from entering the habitats of migratory birds and to prevent contact between migratory birds and poultry, the Xinhua news agency said Sunday.

Veterinary institutions across China were also asked to determine the species and territory of migratory birds in their regions and to take precautionary measures.

The agriculture ministry urged that any new cases be reported quickly to the authorities.

The area in Qinghai province hit by the latest case has been quarantined, according to the ministry.

The region where the dead birds were found is on the edges of Lake Qinghai, where the presence of migratory birds is a tourist attraction.

Officials from the agriculture ministry said some of the migratory birds found dead were believed to have migrated there from Southeast Asia, Xinhua said.

According to China's national bird flu reference laboratory, the virus that had spread among birds in China is different from the virus detected in Southeast Asia, which is more deadly and possibly contains a gene for human contraction, Xinhua said.

Cui Shangjin, an expert from the national laboratory, said people in China need not worry as the country had a "mature" bird flu diagnosis, monitoring and prevention system, according to Xinhua.

"People need not be too worried but should be confident that the new cases can be brought under control as effective measures have been taken by the government," Cui was quoted as saying.

China successfully brought 50 cases of bird flu under control last year. No human infections have been reported in China.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has been discovered in eight countries since late 2003, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

The disease has claimed the lives of at least 53 people including 37 Vietnamese, 12 Thais and one Cambodian.

More than 120 million birds were culled in two huge outbreaks of the virus throughout Asia last year.

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