A 31-year-old man is suspected to have contracted
bird flu in southern China, state
media quoted health authorities as saying.
The man, identified only by his surname Jiang,
was in critical condition in hospital in the economic boomtown of
Shenzhen in Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong, the Xinhua
news agency said, citing city health officials.
The man, who developed a fever, back pains and
a cough on June 3, was admitted to hospital on Friday. Preliminary
tests carried out by local health officials showed he was positive
for H5N1, Xinhua reported.
He has since been transferred to another hospital
in Shenzhen for "advanced treatment", the agency said,
adding that provincial authorities had reported the case to the
health ministry for verification.
The man would become China's 19th reported human
case if he is confirmed as having the deadly H5N1 strain.
Twelve of those cases have been fatal. More than
120 people worldwide have died from bird flu since
it re-emerged as a threat in 2003, with most of the victims in Asia.
Humans are believed to contract the virus mainly
from direct contact with infected animals. Scientists fear a global
pandemic if the virus mutates and becomes easily transmissible between
humans.
Initial reports from Hong Kong's Centre for Health
Protection (CHP) said the man, a truck driver, had visited a wet
market in Shenzhen where live chickens were on sale.
But Xinhua reported that his wife had purchased
a chicken from a wet market two weeks ago and served it for dinner
to five family members, including the patient.
Family members had thus far shown no signs of
illness, the agency said, adding that they were under medical observation.
Thousands of people cross the border daily from Guangdong into Hong
Kong.
The southern Chinese territory has remained free
of bird flu since early 2003, prompting local authorities to step
up inspection of chickens imported from the mainland on Tuesday.
