China reports first human cases of bird flu

China’s Ministry of Health today confirmed the country’s first three human cases of bird flu, the government announced.

Two cases were confirmed in the provinces of Hunan in central China and one in Anhui in the east.

The brief announcement didn’t give any details. But Chinese and World Health Organisation experts had been studying the case of a 12-year-old girl who died in Hunan and her brother, both of whom fell ill after their village suffered a bird flu outbreak in poultry. The boy survived.

China has reported 11 outbreaks in chickens and ducks over the past month in areas throughout the country, prompting authorities to destroy millions of birds in an effort to contain the virus.