Boy, 16, gets bird flu as infection risk rises

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy has been infected with the H5N1 virus, the Chinese health ministry said yesterday — the fourth reported bird flu case this month.

Bird flu has killed two people in China this year and authorities warn the risk of infection may go up during the Lunar New Year as families gather for traditional meals that often include poultry.

The teenager, a student surnamed Wu, fell ill in his hometown in Guizhou province in the country’s south-west on January 8 and was in a critical condition, the ministry said on its website.

It said the boy had been in contact with domestic poultry that had died from illness, but did not elaborate. Those in close contact with Wu have not shown signs of infection, the ministry said.

The announcement followed the death of a woman, whose surname was Zhang, living in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province. She died on Saturday, the ministry said.

Less than two weeks ago, a 19-year-old woman died from the H5N1 virus in a Beijing hospital after buying and cleaning ducks in a market in a neighbouring province. It was the first death from bird flu since last February.

Also yesterday, a two-year-old girl was in a critical condition in the northern province of Shanxi with bird flu.

Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper backed by the mainland’s communist authorities, reported that the girl’s mother died recently of what doctors “highly suspected” was also bird flu. The paper did not give any other details, and Shanxi health officials refused to comment on the mother’s death.

The girl tested positive for H5N1 after falling ill on January 7, the health ministry said.