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Chinese man dies of bird flu as virus spreads in Europe

Posted on: Sunday, 5 March 2006, 12:35 CST

By John Ruwitch

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A man has died from bird flu in southern China, the ninth death from the H5N1 virus in the country, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

The man, identified as a 32-year-old with the surname Lao, was the 15th human bird flu case in China. He died in Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong.

In Europe, Poland detected its first case of H5 bird flu in two swans found dead, the government said on Sunday. Further tests would be needed to determine if it was the H5N1 strain.

Bird flu has killed at least 94 people in East Asia and the Middle East since late 2003. Victims contract the virus through close contact with sick poultry.

However, scientists fear the virus could mutate to spread from person to person, triggering a global pandemic.

Lao had symptoms of fever and pneumonia on February 22 and died on March 2, Xinhua said. The symptoms appeared after Lao made several visits to an agricultural market where he spent a long time near "a live poultry slaughtering site," Xinhua said.

"The victim has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu," Xinhua said, adding the confirmation was in accordance with Chinese and World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

Of the 14 previous cases in China, eight were fatal, two are under treatment and the other four have recovered.

China has reported more than 30 outbreaks of the H5N1 strain in birds across the country in the past year. None of these has been in Guangdong, but neighboring Hong Kong has confirmed several cases, fuelling suspicions that authorities were not being truthful about the situation in Guangdong province.

Hong Kong would suspend imports of all live poultry from Guangdong for three weeks starting from Monday, a Hong Kong government spokesman said. Day old chicks and pet birds would also be barred from import, he said.

Almost all fresh chickens come from mainland China and more than 98 percent of frozen poultry meat imports from Jan-Aug of 2005 came from China.

The bird flu virus made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, killing 6 people.

CHICKEN FOR DINNER

In Europe, Poland detected its first case of H5 bird flu, the government said on Sunday, as France, Switzerland and Romania reported further cases of the virus.

Poland said two swans found dead on the banks of the River Vistula in the northern city of Torun tested positive for H5.

Bird flu has hit at least 14 new countries over the past month, spreading across Europe and reaching Egypt and West Africa, adding to fears for the poultry industry and human health.

Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz was quoted by news agency PAP on Sunday as saying he would have chicken for dinner -- seen as an attempt to protect the poultry industry.

France's poultry sector, Europe's biggest, is losing 40 million euros ($48 million) a month after it recently confirmed an outbreak of the H5N1 virus at a poultry farm. The news prompted more than 43 countries to impose curbs on French poultry products, including foie gras.

France on Sunday said 10 seagulls carrying the H5 virus were found dead last week in the northern Pas-de-Calais region, but an official said the birds were not carrying the H5N1 strain.

Switzerland said it had found further cases of the H5 virus in wild birds, bringing the total number of cases so far to 11. Samples from four dead birds were being tested for H5N1.

Romania began culling birds as a precaution after it found new suspected bird flu cases among "fowl in two household farms" in a Danube river village on Sunday, authorities said.

Polish authorities said they had informed the European Commission of the outbreak and taken precautionary measures, including establishing a high-risk zone 3 kilometers (2 miles) around the outbreak and placing restrictions on the six poultry farms and four processing plants in the region.

(Additional reporting by Ewa Krukowska, Karolina Slowikowska, Tom Armitage, Marguerita Choy, Radu Marinas and Tan Ee Lyn)

Source: REUTERS

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