Beijing - A 16-year-old boy died Tuesday of bird flu,
becoming the third person in China in a little more than two weeks to
succumb to the disease.
The boy died in Huaihua in the central province of Hunan after
having contact with poultry, the official Xinhua news agency said,
citing provincial health officials.
Earlier, a senior government virus expert warned that more human
infections were expected in the country with the world's largest
poultry population.
Shu Yuelong, vice director of virus control and prevention with
the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said
prevention measures must be improved and called on China's people to
avoid contact with poultry, especially sick or dead birds.
A 27-year-old woman died Saturday of avian flu in the eastern
coastal province of Shandong while a 19-year-old woman died January 5
in Beijing.
A 2-year-old girl is also in critical condition with the disease
in a hospital in the northern province of Shanxi.
Before China reported its three deaths this year, the UN's World
Health Organization had confirmed 248 human bird-flu fatalities from
394 infections in 15 Asian and African countries. China's recent
deaths brought its bird-flu fatalities to 23 from 34 infections.
Shu warned that the disease would likely spread in the coming
weeks because the virus is especially active in winter and early in
the year because it is more easily spread in low temperatures.
'The situation demands that we strengthen prevention and
monitoring of the disease to ensure early detection and diagnosis,'
he said.
China's latest bird-flu victim was only identified by his family
name, Wu. Xinhua said he become sick on January 8 in the
south-western province of Guizhou and was transferred to a Huaihua
hospital Friday.
Most people who have contracted bird flu have come in close
contact with infected poultry, but experts said they fear that the
virus could mutate into a form that could be easily passed from human
to human, resulting in a worldwide pandemic.
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