NANJING - Two more people in East China's Jiangsu province were confirmed infected with a new strain of bird flu, the provincial health authorities said Saturday.

The number of H7N9 infections in China has been raised to 46 to date, with one reported in Beijing Saturday and all the other 45 in the eastern parts of the country. The first known human infections of the deadly virus have claimed the lives of 11 people, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The two, a 77-year-old woman from Nanjing and a 72-year-old man from Changshu, are in critical condition and are under emergency treatment at hospitals in Nanjing and Suzhou, the provincial health department said in a statement.

A total of 16 people who have had close contact with the two have not shown signs of flu symptoms.

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