Bird flu outbreak unlikely

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-21-2009 09:17

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A 16-year-old boy died of bird flu in central China's Hunan province Tuesday morning. It's the fourth human bird flu case and third death from the disease so far this year. Health experts say the country is likely to see more individual cases, but not a large-scale breakout.

With the latest death, questions are being raised about the  possibility of an outbreak. But health officials say there's  no need to panic, adding the four current human cases are  not linked.

The latest victim fell ill nearly two weeks ago in southwestern Guizhou Province, where he had contact with poultry.

People who had close contact with the boy are under medical observation. No one has been found ill so far.

With the latest death, questions are being raised about the possibility of an outbreak. But health officials say there's no need to panic, adding the four current human cases are not linked.

Shu Yuelong, director of State Flu Center, said, "According to global and national bird flu monitoring data, there are more cases of the disease in winter and spring. Like the influenza virus, the bird flu virus is able to live longer at low temperatures."

Experts say they have studied the bird flu virus from the current cases, and found they are almost the same as that from previous cases in southern China. This means no obvious biological variation of the bird flu virus has been detected.

Editor:Liu Anqi