Over 600 pigs have died from swine fever and about 12,200 have been infected in the past two months in Mizoram, officials said here on Wednesday.

“The endemic swine fever caused the death of as many as 470 pigs in Aizawl district alone while remaining 130 died in other districts. Over 12,200 pigs have been infected with the disease,” a Mizoram animal husbandry and veterinary department official told reporters. The northeastern state shares border with Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Chitwan livestock officials have confirmed that another poultry farm in Mangalpur area of the district has been affected by avian influenza, few weeks after bird flu cases were detected in Bharatpu

After Chitwan and Rupandehi, bird flu cases have been reported in Bhairahawa on Thursday.

Asian countries on Thursday urged renewed vigilance against a spread of H7N9 bird flu after Taiwan reported a case of the deadly strain, the world's first outside mainland China.

The self-governing island urged its residents to take "enhanced precautions" when visiting China -- placing Shanghai, Beijing and five Chinese provinces on particular alert for travellers after at least 22 deaths were confirmed there.

The death toll in the deadly bird flu outbreak in China mounted to 13 with two more fatalities on Sunday, while the total number of H7N9 cases touched 60 with 11 more reported — the highest in a single day.

Shanghai, China’s largest metropolis and financial hub, was the worst-hit — reporting two more deaths from H7N9 bird flu beside three new cases of infection.

Jagadish Pandey, Chief of the District Livestock Office Jhapa, said bird flu was confirmed at Mechinagar, Chandragadhi and Kumarkhod in Jhapa.

What are the different types of influenza viruses?
There are three types of influenza viruses: A, B and C. Virus A and B cause seasonal flu while C is typically associated with mild illness in children and young adults.

Influenza B and C virus have limited genetic diversity as both are restricted to a single specie each. Influenza type A virus has several sub-species. These species are classified on the basis of different combinations of hemaglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) — the proteins on its surface. For instance the H1N1 is an A type influenza virus that has an HA1 and an NA1 protein. Except H17N10, all known subtypes of influenza A virus can infect birds. The H17N10 virus is found in bats.

H7N9 Variant, Which Has Never Been Seen In Humans Before, Infects One More Person

Beijing: Two Shanghai men have died from a little-known strain of bird flu in the first known human deaths from the strain and a third is under treatment, Chinese official sources said on Sunday. Both the deaths took place in Shanghai in early March, according to delayed information released by health authorities.

EU regulators are expected to announce Monday a ban on the import and sale of cosmetics containing ingredients tested on animals and pledge more efforts to push other parts of the world, like China