China has confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in poultry in the western Xinjiang region.

State media say the virus was identified after domestic poultry died at a farm in Hetian County. Officials confirmed the cause of death was the deadly H5N1 viral strain.

Wednesday, Asian and Pacific nations held a 24-hour disaster exercise, to practice coordinating information about managing a bird flu outbreak.

Indonesia and Vietnam have suffered significant human losses from bird flu cases believed to have been transmitted from bird to human. The World Health Organization is investigating whether the deaths of seven members of one family in Indonesia could be linked to human-to-human transmission of the virus.

More than 120 people, most of them in Asia, have died of bird flu since late 2003.