Eleventh Human Bird Flu Case In China Confirmed

Authorities in China have confirmed that a 26 year old female farmer has bird flu, the H5N1 virus strain (the more virulent one). This brings to eleven the number of human cases confirmed in China.


The woman is from the south-eastern province of Fujian. She became ill on January 10th and was hospitalized with pneumonia. She is still in hospital and is said to be an a 'stable condition'.


There have been no recent poultry outbreaks in the region where the woman lives.


So far, of the eleven human cases in China, seven patients have died. They (all human infection cases) came from the provinces of:


-- Anhui

-- Fujian

-- Guangxi

-- Jiangxi

-- Hunan

-- Liaoning

-- Sichuan


As sporadic cases continue to surface, this indicates that the virus is still circulating among birds in some parts of the country.


There have been 32 poultry outbreaks since May 2005, say agricultural authorities. Most of these took place during October-November 2005.


Since the beginning of this year there have been three reported poultry outbreaks in China:


-- Sichuan Province (3 January)

-- Guizhou Province (10 January)

-- Shanxi Province (8 February)


Human cases started in November, 2005.


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