China confirms new human case of bird flu
A 10-year-old girl in southern China has tested positive for the H5N1 virus, the government said today, making her the country's fourth human bird-flu case. The girl, a student surnamed Tang, lives in Ziyuan County in the Guangxi region, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Health Ministry. She has been sick with a fever and pneumonia for two weeks and has undergone emergency treatment, Xinhua said.
Dead ducks were found in Dingdang, a town in Guangxi, in January 2004—the mainland's first sign of bird flu. The region borders Vietnam, the country hardest hit by the disease. Last month, two farmers in the eastern province of Anhui, both women, died of the disease after coming in contact with sick poultry. A 9-year-old boy in central Hunan province was also sickened but recovered and has been discharged from the hospital.
The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 69 people in Asia since 2003, mostly through contact with infected birds. Experts have warned that the virus could mutate and become more easily passed between people, sparking a global pandemic that could kill millions. China has mounted an aggressive campaign to fight repeated bird flu epidemics in poultry, which increase the potential risk of human cases. It is in sharp contrast to the initial secrecy authorities used to handle an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome—or SARS—that emerged in Guangdong province in 2002.
Authorities have reported 25 bird flu outbreaks in poultry around China since October 19 and have culled and vaccinated tens of millions of chickens, ducks, and geese as a precaution. Xinhua said the Guangxi Health Department and the Health Ministry have sent expert teams to the region to "direct and coordinate disease prevention and control in the area."
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