'High alert' remains on bird flu

Of 82 cases detected as of April 17, the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday that in 76 percent of the cases the patients have been exposed to chicken.

Jiangxi province reported two new cases of H7N9 bird flu on Sunday — an 80-year-old man who raised poultry, and a 31-year-old woman who was exposed to poultry.

Hunan province reported its first case of H7N9 on Saturday. The patient, a 64-year-old woman from Shaoyang city, developed a fever on April 14, four days after having contact with poultry. Her condition has improved after treatment, Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

None of the 41 people who came into contact with the newly confirmed Hunan patient have shown symptoms, according to Xinhua.

A 54-year-old man who fell ill in Jiangxi province is also being treated in Hunan, where he was diagnosed with H7N9 bird flu, the news agency said.

As of Sunday afternoon, bird flu cases had been detected in Hunan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong, Shanghai, Beijing and Anhui.

Last week, a man in Taiwan became the first case of the flu found outside the Chinese mainland. He contracted the virus while traveling on the mainland.