As the deadly coronavirus continues to spread, an outbreak of a "highly pathogenic" H5N1 bird flu has been reported in China's Hunan province.
According to China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the outbreak occurred on a farm in the Shuangqing district of Shaoyang City.
The city is a six-hour drive from Wuhan, the centre of the deadly Coronavirus.
"The farm has 7850 chickens, and 4500 of the chickens have died from the contagion. Local authorities have culled 17,828 poultry after the outbreak," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
No human cases of the virus have been reported, reported the South China Morning Post.
H5N1 also known as the bird flu and avian influenza is highly infectious in birds.
According to the World Health Organisation, however, it is difficult to transmit the infection from person to person.
When the infection spreads, the mortality rate is about 60 percent.
"Almost all cases of H5N1 infection in people have been associated with close contact with infected live or dead birds, or H5N1-contaminated environments," says the World Health Organisation.
