AFP Photo
A
farmer grabs hold of a
duck in Nanzhuang
village, November 2005,
on the outskirts of
Anqing in central
China's Anhui province.
China announced the
country's seventh human
case of bird flu and
third fatality from the
H5N1 virus, state media
said.
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BEIJING (AFP) - China announced the country's seventh human case
of bird flu and third fatality from the H5N1 virus, state media
said.
The victim was a 41-year-old factory worker surnamed Zhou in
Sanming city in the eastern province of Fujian, Xinhua news
agency said, quoting the ministry of health.
She was hospitalized on December 8 after showing symptoms of
fever and pneumonia and died on December 21.
Initial samples taken from her tested negative but further tests
showed positive results for the H5N1 virus, Xinhua said, quoting
a ministry report.
"Zhou has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu in
accordance with the standards of the World Health Organization
(WHO) and the Chinese government," the ministry said, according
to Xinhua.
People who had close contact with Zhou were under medical
observation but none of them so far had shown any abnormal
symptoms, it said.
The health ministry said no outbreak of bird flu had been
detected among poultry in the area, Xinhua said, and there was
no indication in the agency report of how she contracted the
disease.
With the latest case, China has reported seven human infections
of bird flu, including three fatalities, and 31 outbreaks among
poultry this year.
China's previous most recent confirmed human case of bird flu
was in the neighboring province of Jiangxi on December 16,
identified as a 35-year-old man surnamed Guo.
Guo, who fell ill on December 4 with fever and symptoms of
pneumonia, was being treated at a local hospital, Xinhua
reported at the time, citing the health ministry.
While Guo was the first human bird flu case in Jiangxi reported
by China, he lived near the border with Hunan province, where at
least one human case of bird flu has been detected in recent
weeks.
Two other cases, both women who later died, have been confirmed
in east China's Anhui province, which also borders Jiangxi.
One further human case has been confirmed in Liaoning province
in the northeast and one in Guangxi region in the south.
Despite the toll, China is seen as having escaped relatively
lightly from the bird flu virus, which has killed more than 70
people throughout Asia since 2003. |
Even so, China is seen as a potential flashpoint for a feared
global pandemic because it has the world's biggest poultry
population combined with often primitive farming conditions
where humans and animals live in close proximity.
The government announced last month it intended to vaccinate its
entire poultry industry against bird flu and earlier this month
began human trials of a bird flu vaccine.
The World Health Organization on Sunday called on China to
change its farming practices as a long-term way to prevent
outbreaks of deadly bird flu.
Shigeru Omi, director for the Western Pacific region, told
Xinhua that the common practice in China of raising different
kinds of animals together and living in close proximity to
animals must change.
"We cannot kill all the chickens and ducks to prevent bird flu
from spreading among them and to humans, therefore we have to
make sure the chickens, ducks and humans do not mingle
together," Omi was quoted as saying.
Segregation is one of the most important ways to prevent the
spread of the virus, Omi, who was visiting China, told Xinhua in
an interview.
China produces 14.2 billion poultry annually and most are raised
in farmers' yards or even inside their houses.
Scientists fear the close proximity between poultry and other
farm animals as well as humans can provide more opportunity for
the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus to mutate into a more lethal
strain.
The virus is currently spread among animals and from animals to
humans.
If it becomes easily spread between humans, it could create a
pandemic that would likely kill millions of people, experts say.
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