The Ministry of Agriculture said Monday it has received the reports of 12 bird flu cases this year, warning a more "complicated" epidemic control situation this year.

Three of the 12 cases have been confirmed, with two in Tibet Autonomous Region and one in Guizhou Province, both in southwest China, said Li Jinxiang, director of the ministry's veterinary department, on the sidelines of the annual session of China's top legislature.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2008)