China launches emergency checks on poultry markets amid bird flu scare

The cases have prompted authorities to launch emergency checks on local poultry markets in several provinces of China where the cases have been recorded.

China's State Administration of Industry and Commerce instructed officials to "severely punish" illegal sellers of live poultry and bird flu vaccines.

China has promised harsh punishment for illegal poultry sales after four recent bird flu cases, as a health official said the mother of a toddler infected with the avian virus had died of pneumonia weeks before.

The H5N1 flu remains largely a virus among birds, but experts fear it could change into a form that is easily transmitted among humans and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people worldwide.

In northern Shanxi province, where the two-year-old girl remains in hospital, authorities have ordered officials to man provincial border control stations around the clock to prevent the infiltration of disease.