Shanghai - China has contained a newly discovered outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus in its far western region of Xinjiang by culling more than 17 100 poultry, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

The Ministry of Agriculture revealed on Wednesday that poultry on a farm in Xinjiang's Hetian County had died from the bird flu virus.

Experts and veterinarians killed birds and disinfected the area to prevent possible new outbreaks, and no new suspected case has been discovered near the infected area, the ministry said on Friday. It did not specify how many birds had been infected.

Hetian County is on a flight path for migratory birds between east Africa and west Asia.