New human case of bird flu confirmed
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-04-27 22:43 An eight-year pupil in southwest China's Sichuan
Province was confirmed to be infected with H5N1 bird flu, the Ministry of Health
said on Thursday.
The girl, surnamed Sun, from Tangjia Township in Suining City of Sichuan
Province, showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on April 16. She is being
treated in a local hospital, according to the ministry.
Investigators report that poultry deaths occurred in the patient's house
before she caught the deadly disease.
Samples of the girl's lower respiratory tract tested positive for the H5
avian flu sub-type by the Sichuan provincial center for disease control and
prevention (CDC).
China's national CDC confirmed the test result to be H5N1 strain of bird flu
on Thursday.
The patient has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu in accordance
with the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese official
standards, said the ministry.
Governments and health departments at all levels in Sichuan Province have
taken immediate prevention and control measures after the human bird flu case
was confirmed.
People who were in close contact with the patient have been put under medical
observation by local health authorities. So far none has shown any abnormal
symptoms.
The ministry has reported the new case to the WHO and the regions of Hong
Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as several countries.
The new case brought the total number of human cases of bird flu in China to
18. Twelve of them have died.
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