Chinese soldier ill with bird flu

[Firefly]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070526/hl_af...VhGU_8AjAeTvyIi

 

Chinese soldier ill with bird flu Sat May 26, 3:56 PM ET

 

 

 

BEIJING (AFP) - A Chinese soldier was undergoing treatment Saturday after becoming the nation's latest bird flu victim, the government said.

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

The 19-year-old People's Liberation Army petty officer was admitted to hospital after he developed a high fever and began coughing 17 days ago, the health ministry said on its website.

 

The soldier, whose name was not given, has been confirmed as having the H5N1 virus. It is the first human bird flu case in China since a 16-year-old died on March 27 from the disease.

 

The health ministry said local authorities were monitoring those who had been in close contact with him, but no one else had so far developed symptoms.

 

China, which has come under criticism for its failure to promptly pass details of the virus to global health authorities, said it had notified the World Health Organisation, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

 

The report provided no other details.

 

The latest case brings to 25 the number of people in China who have contracted the H5N1 strain since it emerged in Asia in late 2003 and spread globally. Fifteen of the Chinese patients have died.

 

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has infected 307 people worldwide and killed 186 of them, mostly in southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organisation.