China turns to WHO after latest bout of suspected bird flu

CHINA yesterday said it had asked for outside help to test three possible cases of bird flu in humans, and reported that its latest outbreak among poultry lies along a migration route for wild birds.

China said it had asked the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help it determine if the death of a 12-year-old girl last month was caused by bird flu.

There have been four outbreaks of the deadly and virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu among poultry in China in the past three weeks, but Beijing has not confirmed any human deaths from the virus, which has killed at least 62 people across south-east Asia.