ANIMAL excrement was the No. 1 pollution source in the upper reaches of the Huangpu River, according to a law reform proposal drawn up by Zhou Qingjiang, a staff member of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Minhang District.

Zhou's bill before the Municipal People's Congress gained wide media attention as the avian flu epidemic reached the city.

Zhou drafted a bill proposing the banning or the issuing of more strict administrative regulations to cover animal farming around Shanghai.

"It seems unrealistic to forbid animal farming in Shanghai, but the problem will be serious in five to 10 years time," Zhou said.

Animal farming in Shanghai goes on mainly in suburban districts such as Minhang and Fengxian. Many of the farmers are migrant workers working for small-scale farmers who lack the means for the safe disposal for excrement.

"Shanghai has little farming land now and the excrement from animals can't be fully used in the fields," Zhou said.

The extra amount of excrement is poured into creeks and rivers. The waste absorbs large amount of oxygen and caused the water to stink.

Carcasses are often found in local creeks because farmers are reluctant to pay for their cremation.

And the sheds where animals are kept are often in poor condition. "Animal sheds should be far away from people's residences," Zhou said. An animal farm should be at least 500 metres away from the nearest home to avoid the risk of the spread of epidemic diseases. However, no animal farm in Shanghai could satisfy that requirement.

Some farmers keep animals without a licence but their products reach the market anyway, without going through quarantine.

Although regulations have been issued against feeding animals with slops from restaurants, such a practice is still common in animal farming.

The overuse of chemical feed and medicines on animals also pose risks to people who eat the meat.

Zhou suggested closing some small-scale animal farms in poor condition in order to better administer the industry.

"There used to be 37 animal farms in Minhang, but 27 of them will be closed in one or two years time," Zhou said. "Farmers have their right to keep poultry and pigs, but they haven't the right to pollute the environment."

Zhou suggested that along the upper reaches of the Huangpu River, as well as in some other clean water protection zones, animal farming should be banned. And more strict standards for excrement disposal should also be made in Shanghai, where surface water has been seriously polluted.

On January 27, the bird flu virus was reported killing ducks in southern parts of China, which begins a cull of 14,000 birds to halt a spread.

So far, bird flu has been confirmed in Long'an County of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Wugang City of Hunan Province, and Wuxue City of Hubei Province.

Areas reporting suspected cases include East China's Shanghai municipality, Anhui Province, Yongkang City in East China's Zhejiang Province, Chao'an county of South China's Guangdong Province, Yichang City in Hubei Province, Chenggong County in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, Pingyu County in Central China's Henan Province, and the No. 12 Farming Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.