China's local railway bureaus and railway transport companies have put brakes on all animal-related transportation at six railway stations in bird-flu affected regions, said the Ministry of Railways Monday.

The ministry said in an urgent notice that all railway sectors across the country should stop transporting, transferring and receiving animals, animal products and poultry at the six railway stations in the bird-flu contaminated areas.

They are the Wuxue station on the Beijing-Kowloon line, Wangjiaying Station and Kunming South Station on the Nanning-Kunming line, Kunming Station, Kunming East Station and Jinma Village Station on the Guizhou-Kunming line.

The Ministry of Railways is carrying out all-round bird-flu control work. At the ministry's newly established bird-flu prevention office, more than ten staff with the ministry are busy answering calls from national railway bureaus at all levels.

The office is required to report the daily epidemic situation of the whole railway system, and upon any emergency case, the office will give prompt response to help local authorities solving the issues.

According to the office, the ministry has strengthened baggage checks on all passengers before they board the trains, and passengers are forbidden to take poultry onto trains. The ministry also stopped poultry transportation on trains to Beijing, so as to keep the capital city free of the epidemic.

The office said immunization is compulsory at the 63 ministry-affiliated poultry farms and companies, covering 137,227 poultry and 12,195 animals, as well as large-scale disinfection.

Currently, there has been no bird-flu case found in the railway system, said the office.

For those bird-flu affected areas, the ministry has promised to give priority in transporting the vaccine. Since the outbreak of bird flu in China, the railway sector has transported four trains of vaccine to the contaminated areas.

With the increasing demand of the vaccine, the ministry required national railway transport sectors to properly arrange trains and take measures to ensure a sound transportation.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2004)