A Chinese bus driver who tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus died yesterday, a week after being admitted to hospital with a fever. He was the country's first reported case of the disease in humans in 18 months, and the circumstances in which he contracted the disease are worryingly uncertain. During the month prior to becoming ill, Mr Chen, aged 39, apparently had no direct contact with poultry and had not travelled out of his home city of Shenzhen. This is a metropolis of 10 million people, separated only by the Shenzhen River from Hong Kong, where thousands of birds were slaughtered after two were confirmed to have the virus last week.
Since 2003, there have been 336 human deaths from 573 confirmed bird flu cases around the world. Of these, 40 cases were in China, 26 of which were fatal. So far, the 120 people identified as having close contact with Mr Chen have not developed any abnormal symptoms.
Concerning and very sad developments.
Source: The Independent
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