A child plays with dead chickens at a poultry market in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province June 6, 2006. China needs to improve its efforts to control bird flu, a leading Chinese expert on the disease said, adding to voices anxious about the country's preparedness. [filephoto]

The outbreak occurred on July 14 in a community in Xinjiang's Aksu city, and the H5N1 virus was found in the samples of the dead poultry by the national bird flu laboratory, said the ministry.

The H5N1 strain of avian flu had killed 3,045 chickens, and another 356,976 head had been culled in an an emergency response.

The local agricultural department has quarantined the infected area. and the outbreak is now under control, the ministry said.