NANCHANG - Health authorities in East China's Jiangxi province Saturday confirmed a second human case of H10N8, a new strain of bird flu known to affect humans.

The patient, a 55-year-old woman in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi, is in a critical condition, the provincial health and family planning department said in a statement.

The woman, surnamed Zhang, developed symptoms of sore throat, dizziness and asthenia on January 8 and was admitted to hospital on January 15, it said.

An investigation showed that she once had exposure to an agricultural market, said the statement.

All those who had come into contacts with her have not shown any abnormal symptoms.

Health experts called on the public to stay away from the live poultry and to have good hygiene habits.

On December 17, local health authorities in Jiangxi confirmed the first human infection of H10N8, days after a 73-year-old woman died from the virus. Health experts then said H10N8 existed among birds, but human infection had never been reported before.

Meanwhile, many regions, including Zhejiang, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Beijing, have reported dozens of cases of H7N9, another strain of the bird flu.