China Says 22-Year Old Died of Bird Flu
By VOA News
18 February 2008
China's Health Ministry says a 22-year old man from the central Chinese province of Hunan has died of bird flu.
In a statement Monday posted on its Web site, the Health Ministry says the man first showed symptoms of the disease in mid-January and died more than a week later on January 24.
Health officials say samples taken from the man confirm that he had the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease. The ministry says that individuals who came into contact with him were under close supervision and reported no signs that the disease was spreading.
The statement did not say how the man contracted the disease or why it has taken nearly four weeks for news of his death to reach the public.
Not including today's reported death, the World Health Organization says 27 people in China have already died from the deadly H5N1 strain of disease since 2003.
Since then, the disease has claimed 227 lives worldwide, most of them in Asia. Most bird flu cases involve close contact with infected poultry.
China was heavily criticized for its cover-up of the outbreak of SARS, (severe acute respiratory syndrome) pandemic which started in southern China in late 2002 and killed more than 700 people worldwide.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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