China has asked the World Health Organization to help test three possible cases of bird flu in humans, one of which resulted in the death of a 12-year-old girl, the Wall Street Journal reported. There have been no confirmed deaths in China from the H5N1 strain of avian flu, which has killed at least 62 people across Southeast Asia. However, Chinese experts "cannot rule out the possibility of human transmission of H5N1 bird flu" in the cases of three people – including the 12-year-old girl – in Wantang, central Hunan province. They came down with pneumonia last month following a bird-flu outbreak among local poultry. Meanwhile, 1,700 officials and 100 police finished culling about 370,000 birds after bird flu killed 8,940 chickens in Liaoning province, near China's border with North Korea, the AP reported.
Categories