China on Friday described the spread of avian influenza in birds around the country as highly alarming, and said it was in the midst of carrying out a campaign to eradicate and vaccinate birds.

In the past two weeks authorities have destroyed more than 47,300 domesticated birds in three provinces after local outbreaks. Nearly 7m birds have already been vaccinated in the country as a whole. However, there were no human cases of bird flu in the country, the health ministry said.