The boy, surnamed Ouyang from Guiyang County, first showed symptoms of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu on December 24 and was now under treatment in hospital, the official Xinhua news agency said.

China has now confirmed eight human cases of bird flu since late last year, including three fatalities, and reported more than 30 outbreaks among poultry in several provinces since early 2005.

The most recent fatality was confirmed in the eastern province of Fujian on December 21. Two other deaths, both women, were previously confirmed in east China's Anhui province.

Despite the toll, China is seen as having escaped relatively lightly from the bird flu virus, which has killed more than 70 people throughout Asia since 2003, the majority of them in Vietnam.

Even so, China is seen as a potential flashpoint for a feared global pandemic because it has the world's biggest poultry population combined with often primitive farming conditions where humans and animals live in close proximity.

The country's most recent confirmed case before Monday was a 35-year-old man surnamed Guo on December 16.

European nations and world health experts are also currently on alert after Turkey reported 14 people had been infected with the disease, including two who have already died.

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