Sunday, January 25, 2009
A man from Guizhou Province, southwest China, was infected with bird flu and is in serious condition in hospital on Sunday, announced the Ministry of Health.
This is the sixth case of bird flu in humans reported to be in China this year. The Chinese Ministry of Health said on its website (www.moh.gov.cn) the latest victim is a man of 29 years apellidado Zhou, who fell ill on January 15.
In recent weeks, four people have died from bird flu in China.
"The epidemiological tests indicate that the patient had previous exposure to poultry in markets," the ministry said in a short statement.
None of the people who were close to Zhou has shown symptoms of the disease, added the ministry.
Even before the report of his case, health officials were urging Chinese to step up surveillance this month because it is assumed that the winter season helps the virus to spread.
Other recent victims fell ill in areas where there were no known poultry outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain.
The H5N1 strain remains mainly a virus is in birds. But experts maintain that there is a possibility that the virus mutate to a version that allows easy human-to-human infection, which could cause a pandemic that would cause death to millions.
Including the latest case, at least 36 people have been infected in China and 24 have died due to H5N1 to date.
Labels: Health
