Sixth death from H7N9 bird flu reported

HANGZHOU - East China's Zhejiang province on Friday morning reported that a man has died from the H7N9 bird flu, bringing the death toll from the new deadly strain to six in the country.

The city has reported three infections to date, and two have died, the Health Bureau of Zhejiang province said Friday.

According to the health bureau, the 64-year-old man surnamed Zhang, who is a peasant farmer of Huzhou city, died at hospital after rescue efforts failed on Thursday night and it was confirmed he was infected with the H7N9 strain.

So far, 55 people who had a close contact with Zhang have shown no abnormal symptoms.

China has confirmed 14 H7N9 cases -- six in Shanghai, four in Jiangsu, three in Zhejiang and one in Anhui, in the first known human infections of the lesser-known strain.

Shanghai authorities on Thursday reported four deaths, with Zhejiang now reporting two.