Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- China reported two new outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza in chickens and geese, bringing to 17 the number of cases in the country this month.

Morin Dawa county in northern China's Inner Mongolia reported 176 poultry died on Nov. 15, and Shishou city in the central province of Hubei reported 3,500 geese died on Nov. 16, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement posted on its Web site last night.

China's National Avian Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed yesterday the birds were infected with the H5N1 virus, the statement said.

The virus has infected at least 130 people in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam and killed 67 of them, the World Health Organization said on Nov. 17. Bird flu outbreaks in poultry increase the risk of the virus mutating into a strain that's more easily transmissible between humans, leading to a pandemic that may kill millions.

Authorities in both provinces killed birds within a three- kilometer (1.9-mile) radius of the infection sites. In Hubei, 3,800 poultry were culled, and 3,202 birds in Inner Mongolia were destroyed, the statement said.

China on Nov. 16 confirmed the country's first two cases of H5N1 avian influenza in humans, including a farmer who was killed by the virus in the eastern province of Anhui. Bird flu also is suspected in a third case, in which a 12-year-old girl died, health officials said.

Chinese authorities last week said the country will vaccinate all 14.2 billion farm birds to prevent avian influenza from spreading, the state-run People's Daily reported. The U.S. on Nov. 17 said it wouldn't follow China's example of vaccinating billions of chickens, ducks and geese but preferred quarantine and depopulation, the Agriculture Department said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janet Ong in Shanghai at a jong3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 20, 2005 20:39 EST