Two-year-old Bird Flu Patient is Out of Danger in China Says State Media

A two-year-old girl in north China who was diagnosed with bird flu and was critically ill for days is now out of danger, state media reported Friday.

The girl, surnamed Peng, is one of four known cases that emerged over the past month in China after nearly a year with no human cases in the world's most populous nation, and the only one to survive.

She was still receiving treatment Friday at the Number Four People's Hospital in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, the Xinhua news agency reported.

None of the 67 people who had close contact with her had shown signs of being affected, and 51 of them had already been discharged from medical observation, Xinhua said.

The toddler fell ill on January 7 and was confirmed with bid flu on January 17.

Three other patients, two women aged 19 and 27 and one 16-year-old boy, have died from bird flu in China this month.

This brought the total number of reported deaths in China since the virus re-emerged in 2003 to 23.

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This round of human cases did not coincide with any known outbreaks among poultry, raising fears that the virus may linger undetected among birds and affect humans without prior warning.

The nightmare scenario for health officials is a mutated bird flu virus that could spread easily among humans, leading to a global pandemic.

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Source-AFP
SPH