BEIJING - Northeast China's Heilongjiang province has reported an outbreak of the H5N6 bird flu virus in poultry, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) announced Monday.

Over 20,000 geese at a farm in Harbin, the provincial capital, showed symptoms of avian flu and almost 18,000 died last month, according to the MOA.

The National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory on Monday confirmed the epidemic was H5N6.

The infected area has been sealed off and sterilized with almost 69,000 poultry culled and safely disposed, the MOA said.

Bird flu, or avian influenza, is a contagious disease of animal origin caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. It can be fatal to humans.