China reports five new H7N9 human cases

BEIJING - Five Chinese people were confirmed to be infected with the H7N9 bird flu Thursday in four regions including Beijing, health authorities said.

A 73-year-old chicken farmer in Beijing's outer Huairou District was in critical condition and was being treated at Ditan Hospital, the Beijing municipal health and family planning commission said.

The man had raised, traded and slaughtered live poultry before he came down with flu symptoms and sought medication on January 30. He was diagnosed of the H7N9 bird flu on Wednesday by the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center.

He was the second H7N9 bird flu patient diagnosed in the Chinese capital this year. The first case, reported on January 24, died on January 30, health authorities said Thursday.

Two new H7N9 human cases were reported in the eastern Jiangsu Province Thursday and both were in critical condition.

One of them, a 66-year-old man from Yancheng city, reportedly bought two live chickens and cooked them before falling ill.

The other patient, aged 63, raised six chickens at home and also visited live poultry stalls at a market near his home in Xuzhou city, the local health authorities said.

Jiangsu Province has reported 11 H7N9 human cases this year, including one death.

The central Hunan Province reported its fifth bird flu case Thursday. The patient, 61, was a woman from Miluo in Yueyang City. She was being treated at a hospital in Changsha, the provincial capital.

Meanwhile, health authorities in south China's Guangdong Province said  a 36-year-old woman from Foshan city had been diagnosed of the H7N9 bird flu. She was being treated in Guangzhou.

Special: Fighting against H7N9 bird flu