Avian influenza – situation in China – update 3

9 February 2006

The Ministry of Health in China has reported the country’s eleventh laboratory confirmed case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

The case is a 26-year-old female farmer from the south-eastern province of Fujian. She developed symptoms on 10 January and was subsequently hospitalized with pneumonia. She remains under treatment in stable condition.

Like many of the other cases in China, this one occurred in an area where no recent poultry outbreaks have been officially reported.

Of China’s eleven laboratory confirmed cases, seven have been fatal. The cases have occurred in seven provinces and regions: Anhui, Fujian, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hunan, Liaoning, and Sichuan.

The continuing occurrence of sporadic human cases indicates that the virus is continuing to circulate in birds in at least some parts of the country. Since May 2005, agricultural authorities have reported 32 poultry outbreaks across the country, the majority of which were reported in October and November 2005.

Three poultry outbreaks have been reported so far this year: one in Sichuan Province on 3 January, one in Guizhou Province on 10 January, and one in Shanxi Province on 8 February.

The country’s first two confirmed human cases of H5N1 infection were reported in mid-November of last year.