China's 14th bird flu fatality was confirmed by the health ministry Monday. The victim, a 62 year-old farmer surnamed Li from Jimsar county in the northwest region of Xinjiang, fell ill on June 19 and died on July 12. Initial laboratory tests for traces of the H5N1 avian flue virus had proved inconclusive. The man was reported to have had no close contact with human cases of bird flu or been in the presence of sick or dead poultry in the month before he fell ill. However, Beijing-based World Health Organization spokesman Roy Wadia observed that most bird flu cases in China had no confirmed link to poultry but that didn't mean there was no contact. The announcement comes shortly after China confirmed its first human bird flu victim was in 2003, two years earlier than previously reported.