A death from bird flu was reported in Guizhou, making it the second fatality within a month. This fatality follows reported deaths in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The Telegraph reports:
The latest victim, 39, fell ill on January 6 and was subsequently admitted to hospital in Guiyang – capital of Guizhou province – where his condition rapidly deteriorated, the provincial health department said in a statement.
Tests on the patient before he died confirmed he had contracted the H5N1 virus, it added.
“So far, 71 people who had close contact with the victim have not developed abnormal symptoms,” the health department said.
The latest bird flu death brings to 28 the number of people in China who have died from the disease – which is fatal in humans in about 60 per cent of cases – since 2003, out of 42 reported human cases.
After the earlier death of a man in Shenzhen, Hong Kong officials banned poultry from the mainland for 21 days. Mainland officials are now insisting that the most recent patient did not have any contact with poultry. The Washington Post reports:
Mainland officials told Hong Kong authorities the patient was a 39-year-old man who reported having no contact with poultry, government-run Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK said. It gave no other details of his identity.
Last week, Vietnam reported its first bird flu fatality in nearly two years — an 18-year-old man who worked on a duck farm.
In Cambodia, a 2-year-old boy died last week after reportedly having contact with sick poultry in his village, according to the World Health Organization.
Indonesia also has reported one bird flu death this year.
See also China, Hong Kong on bird flu alert via CDT.
