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China reports fourth bird flu death this year
Beijing (AFP) Jan 24, 2009 China on Saturday announced the death of a 31-year-old woman from bird flu, its fourth human victim this year, sparking fears of an outbreak during the country's main festive season. The woman fell ill on January 10 after visiting a poultry market and died early on Friday in northwest China's Xinjiang region, the state Xinhua news agency said, citing local health authorities. Tests confirmed she was suffering from the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus. The woman was China's third avian flu victim in seven days -- a 16-year-old boy died on Tuesday in the central province of Hunan and a 27-year-old woman succumbed to the disease last Saturday in the eastern province of Shandong. The latest cases have prompted fears of a bird flu outbreak during the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts this weekend and sees tens of millions of Chinese people on the move as they return home for the festivities. The government is expecting a record 188 million people to travel by train and another 24 million to fly over the 40 days before and after the New Year, in what is regarded as the biggest annual movement of people in the world. China's agriculture ministry warned earlier this week of an increased risk as poultry sales rose ahead of the holiday period, traditionally a time for feasting. However, a spokesman for the World Health Organisation said there was no indication the risk was any higher than normal. "It is the season of flus, all flus. We have no evidence that the virus has changed," said Yuan Boyong. "There are seasonal patterns... we watch for any change in the seasonal patterns. So far there is none." Cold weather encourages the spread of the virus and large swathes of China have been hit by sub-zero temperatures in recent days. The latest death means the number of human victims in 2009 has already exceeded the toll for last year, when three people died, all in January and February. China's health ministry this week sought to calm fears of an outbreak, noting that the recent cases were spread across the country. "There is no epidemiological connection between them. They are sporadic cases," the ministry said in a statement. The first fatality of 2009 occurred on January 5 when a 19-year-old woman died in Beijing, while a two-year-old girl in northern China who fell critically ill with the disease was on Friday said to be out of danger. Scientists have long feared the virus could mutate to a form that could jump easily from human to human, potentially sparking a global pandemic. China is considered one of the nations most at risk from bird flu epidemics because it has the world's biggest poultry population and many chickens in rural areas are kept close to humans. The total number of reported deaths in China since the virus re-emerged in 2003 now stands at 24. The WHO says about 250 people have died from bird flu worldwide since 2003. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola
Cholera from Zimbabwe spreads in Kruger's rivers: spokesman
Johannesburg (AFP) Jan 23, 2009Rivers in South Africa's famed Kruger game park are contaminated with cholera floating downstream from Zimbabwe, but the virus poses no threat to visiting tourists, a spokesman said Friday. |
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