HEFEI: The Ministry of Health has confirmed a 16-year-old boy has died from bird flu in East China's Anhui Province, bringing the number of people in the country who have been killed by the virus to 15.

The student, surnamed Wu from Bengbu in Anhui, died on Tuesday in hospital after being treated there for 10 days, a spokesman for the Anhui provincial health department said.

The boy developed symptoms of pneumonia, fever and muscle aches on March 17. He was admitted to hospital on March 18, the spokesman said.

Tests by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday confirmed that he had been infected with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

Local health authorities said they are monitoring those who had close contact with the patient. So far they have not shown symptoms of the disease, and there has been no reported outbreak of the disease among local fowl.

The local authority has not provided information on how the young student have contracted the disease.

Last December, a 37-year-old farmer in the province was confirmed to have contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The patient surnamed Li was discharged from hospital on January 6 after a full recovery.

According to Anhui health authorities, the Health Ministry has informed the World Health Organization, health agencies in the two regions of Hong Kong and Macao and Taiwan Province, and some countries.

China has reported a total of 24 human cases of bird flu since 2003. China's last confirmed human fatality from the H5N1 strain of bird flu was a 62-year-old farmer in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Xinhua

(China Daily 03/30/2007 page3)