China reports 2nd bird flu death this year

China reports 2nd bird flu death this year
By AUDRA ANG – 1 hour ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ghdkIg5knBtGcVm1UfEwvXSnaAPAD95Q9IKG0
BEIJING (AP) — A 16-year-old boy has been infected with the H5N1
virus, the Health Ministry said Monday, the fourth reported case this
month. Bird flu has killed two people in China this year and
authorities warn the risk of infection may go up during the Lunar New
Year as families gather for traditional meals that often include
poultry.

The teenager, a student surnamed Wu, fell ill in his hometown in
Guizhou province in the country's southwest on Jan. 8 and was
currently in critical condition, the ministry said on its Web site.

It said the boy had been in contact with domestic poultry that had
died from illness but did not elaborate. Those in close contact with
Wu have not shown signs of infection, the ministry said.

The announcement followed the death of a woman, whose surname was
Zhang, living in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province. She died
Saturday, the ministry said. The notice did not say how Zhang, 27, who
fell sick on Jan. 5, contracted the virus.

Less than two weeks ago, a 19-year-old woman died from the H5N1 virus
in a Beijing hospital after buying and cleaning ducks in a market in a
neighboring province. It was the first death from bird flu since last
February.

Also Monday, a 2-year-old girl was in critical condition in the
northern province of Shanxi with bird flu. Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong
newspaper backed by the mainland's communist authorities, reported
that the girl's mother died recently of what doctors "highly
suspected" was also bird flu. The paper did not give any other
details, and Shanxi health officials refused to comment on the
mother's death.

The girl tested positive for H5N1 after falling ill on Jan. 7, the
Health Ministry said.

The cases come at a worrisome time for Chinese authorities as tens of
millions of people are on the move between cities and rural hometowns
for Lunar New Year, the country's biggest holiday, which begins on
Jan. 26.

Dishes prepared from freshly slaughtered chicken and duck feature
prominently in celebration feasts. That means a potentially greater
risk of exposure to sick birds as people shop in markets and handle
poultry or when the birds are transported to be sold, said the World
Health Organization's Beijing office.

The WHO said it was prepared to provide technical assistance to China
if asked and urged people to take precautions against bird flu
infections by washing their hands after handling raw meat and ensuring
all poultry is well cooked.

While bird flu remains hard for humans to catch — with most cases
linked to contact with infected birds — scientists have warned that if
outbreaks among poultry are not controlled, the virus may mutate into
a form more easily passed between people.

Chinese Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an said last week that the
public should minimize contact with poultry, especially sick or dead
ones, and that medical institutions should step up surveillance of flu
cases, especially during the New Year holiday.

Health officials say that the winter months can bring an increase in
bird flu cases because the H5N1 virus can survive longer in cold
weather and have a bigger chance of infecting poultry — and possibly
humans. Winter is also when many people in rural areas bring live
poultry into their homes to protect them from the cold.

The virus, which has ravaged poultry stocks across Asia since 2003,
has continued a path of infection.

Last week, Nepal reported that chickens tested positive for H5N1 there
— the first time known instance of the virus in the Himalayan nation.

In Vietnam, animal health officials said they detected the bird flu
virus in chickens smuggled from neighboring China. An 8-year-old girl
was also reported sick with H5N1 earlier this month, the first human
case reported in the country in nearly a year.

According to the latest World Health Organization figures, bird flu
has killed 248 people worldwide since 2003.
.

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