The Chinese Ministry of Health on Friday confirmed that a
29-year-old woman in Shanghai in east China has died from the bird
flu.
The victim, identified only by her surname, Li, was a migrant
worker in Shanghai. She showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on
March 13 and died on March 21.
The Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention
confirmed Li's blood samples tested positive for H5N1. The
municipal health department had suspected she was suffering from
bird flu.
The national Center for Disease Control (CDC) re-tested on
Thursday Li's samples which were also positive. The tests were made
in accordance with the standards of the World Health Organization
(WHO), said the ministry.
Those having close contacts with Li have been put under medical
observation by local health authorities. So far, none have reported
abnormal symptoms.
The report did not say how or where the victim might have been
infected with the disease and there has been no confirmation on any
outbreak of bird flu among poultry in the city.
The ministry has reported the case to the WHO, the regions of
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and several countries.
Li's death brings the total number of human cases of bird flu in
China to 16. Ten of the victims have died.
Worldwide a total of 185 human cases of bird flu which caused
104 deaths have been reported to the WHO as of Friday, according to
the WHO's website.
There is still room for improvement in China's bird flu
surveillance and early warning of the public following bird flu
outbreaks, Shigeru Omi, WHO regional director of the Western
Pacific, said on Wednesday in Beijing.
Shanghai's health authorities have intensified surveillance and
preventive measures in the city which has a population of about 18
million people.
The city's 160 medical departments with fever outpatient service
have stepped up screening of patients. Control of animal and
poultry trade have also been tightened.
Booklets on bird flu prevention have been sent to communities in
a bid to raise public awareness of the disease.
"There's no need to panic, but it's necessary to pay close
attention to personal hygiene and avoid contact with sick or dead
poultry," said Zhang Yongxin, a professor with the Huashan Hospital
under the Fudan
University in Shanghai.
Experts have been worrying that the bird flu virus could mutate
into a form that could easily spread among people, causing a global
pandemic.
China has agreed to share virus samples from bird flu outbreaks
in poultry with WHO to help develop anti-bird flu drugs and
vaccines, according to WHO officials.
The first batch of 20 samples should arrive at WHO's overseas
laboratories within weeks, said Julie Hall, coordinator of Epidemic
Alert and Response in WHO's Beijing office.
(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2006)