A man in southwestern China has died of bird flu, health authorities said on Saturday, becoming the second fatality from the H5N1 virus this year. The 31-year-old died in hospital in the city of Guiyang on Friday, the Guizhou province health department said in a statement, adding that no other human cases of avian flu had been reported in the province. Another city resident, a 21-year-old woman, died from the virus earlier this month. The Xinhua news agency said both of them had come into close contact with birds but it was not known if the cases were related. The H5N1 virus typically spreads from birds to humans through direct contact, but experts fear it could mutate into a form transmissible between humans with the potential to trigger a pandemic. More than 365 people have died of bird flu globally since the virus re-emerged in 2003, according to the World Health Organization. Its figures show that China saw 25 deadly cases of the virus between 2003 and 2009 before numbers tailed off to one fatality in each of the three following years. The deadliest year of the past decade in China saw eight deaths in 2006. China is considered one of the nations most at risk from bird flu epidemics because it has the world’s biggest poultry population and many chickens in rural areas are kept close to humans. China has in the past been accused of covering up the extent of bird flu outbreaks, exacerbating fears when new cases are reported. Separate outbreaks among birds were reported last year in the northern region of Ningxia and the remote northwestern region of Xinjiang, prompting massive culls of chickens.
GMT 18:35 2018 Thursday ,11 January
Syrian refugee sets himself ablaze at UN office in LebanonGMT 18:48 2018 Tuesday ,09 January
Novo Nordisk woos Belgian nano-drug makerGMT 17:54 2017 Wednesday ,27 December
Medical evacuations begin from besieged Syria rebel bastionGMT 12:14 2017 Monday ,25 December
MoHAP successfully conducts cochlear implant operationGMT 18:24 2017 Sunday ,24 December
Palestinian conjoined twins arrive in RiyadhGMT 19:05 2017 Monday ,18 December
new! magazine names fitness & food editorGMT 17:03 2017 Wednesday ,29 November
Spain reports case of 'mad cow disease'GMT 14:05 2017 Saturday ,11 November
EU can't agree on new licence for controversial glyphosate weedkiller
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor