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.

The total number of fatalities from H7N9 bird flu in Shanghai has risen to 13 after the death of an 89-year-old man on Monday morning, local health authorities said.

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

China's Ministry of Finance said Wednesday it has allocated 303 million yuan ($48.6 million) from the central coffers to better prevent human infections of the H7N9 avian flu.

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.

International experts probing China’s deadly H7N9 bird flu virus said on Wednesday it was “one of the most lethal influenza viruses” seen so far as Taiwan reported the first case outside China.

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.

At least two peacocks died in a remote village of Tharparkar district on Monday, sources told Dawn.

The peacocks, they said, were found dead in Sangelo village in Diplo taluka.