A 31-year-old man in south
China's Guangdong Province has been confirmed to have contracted bird flu,
bringing the country's total human infections of the disease to 19, the Chinese
Ministry of Health said yesterday.
A security guard
wearing respirator stands on duty at Donghu Hospital
in Shenzhen, Guangdong province June 13, 2006. The suspected
bird flu patient is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
[newsphoto] |
The patient, surnamed Jiang, is
a migrant worker in Shenzhen City. He had fever and pneumonia on June 3 and has
been hospitalized since.
He is listed in critical condition, the ministry said in a report.
Researchers found that before developing symptoms, Jiang had visited a local
market several times where live poultry were sold.
Jiang's samples tested positive for H5N1 by the Shenzhen Center for Disease
Control and Prevention and the provincial and national CDCs.
He has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu in accordance with the
standards of the World Health Organization and the Chinese government, said the
ministry.
The ministry has reported the new case to the WHO, China's Hong Kong, Macau
and Taiwan regions, as well as several foreign countries.
Local health authorities on Tuesday said they suspected Jiang was infected
with the bird flu virus. All 98 people who had close contact with Jiang tested
negative for the disease, the local health bureau said yesterday.
The health department of neighboring Hong Kong on Tuesday warned the public
to be vigilant against bird flu, while Macau health authorities announced on
Wednesday it would halt the import of live poultry from Shenzhen.
Jiang is the 19th human case of bird flu reported in China. Of the previous
18 cases, 12 have died.
Globally, 225 human infections, including 128 deaths, have been recorded by
the WHO.
Health experts fear the bird flu virus would mutate into a form that can
easily pass between people, causing a global pandemic.
The Chinese government is "keeping a close eye on bird flu and have
strengthened scientific research and nationwide surveillance," Ministry of
Health spokesman Mao Qun'an said on Monday.
One day later, a Shanghai-based company was approved by the State Food and
Drug Administration to produce a generic form of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu.
Tests showed the domestic drug was as effective and safe on humans as the
imported version, the SFDA said.
Tamiflu is an anti-viral drug considered the most effective treatment
available to counter the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Agriculture said China has developed three
kinds of new bird flu vaccines for use in birds.