December 19, 2005

China's Jiangxi reports human case of bird flu
 

A 35-year-old man in Suichuan county of China's eastern Jiangxi province has tested positive for bird flu, marking the country's sixth human case of the disease.

Suichuan county was also the site of a recent bird flu outbreak among poultry, which killed 1,640 ducks. However, there were no official statements to confirm if the two cases were related.

The man from Shangxi village in Suichuan fell ill in early December with fever and pneumonia-like symptoms.

China's health ministry and the China Disease Prevention and Control Center have confirmed that he was infected with the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus.

91 people who had close contact with him were also hospitalised for a week for medical observation. So far, none of them have shown flu-like symptoms.

Meanwhile, 319,600 poultry within three kilometres of Shangxi have been culled.

Local authorities said they have also thoroughly disinfected shelters of the culled birds, as well as roads and houses within the area.

A three-kilometre quarantine radius has been set around Shangxi, while 17 temporary animal inspection and quarantine stations were set up to disinfect people and vehicles entering or leaving the area.