Beijing - A 31-year-old woman died of bird flu in northwest
China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, becoming the fourth death
from the disease in the country this year, state-run media reported.
The woman surnamed Zhang, a resident in the regional capital
Urumqi, died early Friday, Xinhua news agency quoted Wang Xiaoyan,
deputy director of the regional health department, as saying.
People who had close contact with Zhang have not shown symptoms
of infection yet, Wang said.
The woman in Urumqi's Toutunhe district, fell ill on January 10
after she bought a live chicken in a poultry market in neighbouring
Changji City and ate the meat, according to the report.
She first went to a private clinic and then the Changji City
People's Hospital for treatment before finally going to the No. 1
Hospital affiliated with Xinjiang Medical University in Urumqi,
Xinhua said.
Xinjiang's agricultural, animal husbandry and health authorities
had begun an investigation into the infection source and strengthened
inspection of poultry farms to prevent possible epidemic, officials
said.
Three other people died of bird flu and another has been infected
so far this year. The first death was a 19-year-old woman in Beijing
on January 5, followed by a 27-year-old woman in Shandong province on
January 17 and a 16-year-old boy in Hunan province on January 20.
A 2-year-old girl who was critically ill with the disease was
out of danger at a hospital in Shanxi Province on Friday after her
vital signs remained stable for six consecutive days, Xinhua said.
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