China's Bird Flu Spreads Farther

H7N9 bird flu virus, which was earlier limited to China, has now spread to a new province, the media reports.

"Two new cases were reported in central China's Henan province on Sunday," the Xinhua state news agency said.

First Human Case of H7N9 Bird Flu Reported in Beijing
In Beijing, a seven-year-old girl has been infected with H7N9 bird flu, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported, the first confirmed case in the Chinese capital.

Until Saturday, when one case was reported in the capital of Beijing, all other instances had occurred in the eastern city of Shanghai and nearby Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces hundreds of miles (kilometres) away.

Altogether 51 people have been infected and 11 have died of the disease since Chinese authorities announced two weeks ago they had found H7N9 in humans for the first time.

Experts fear the prospect of such viruses mutating into a form easily transmissible between humans, which would have the potential to trigger a pandemic.

Source of H7N9 Avian Influenza Identified
Researchers have ascribed H7N9 source to genetic reassortment of wild birds from east Asia and chickens from east China.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) said last week there was as yet no evidence of human-to-human transmission of H7N9.

The 19 people who had close contact with the two victims in Henan have not shown any flu symptoms, Xinhua reported.

Chinese Man Dies of H7N9 Bird Flu
In China's eastern province of Zhejiang, a man had died of a new strain of bird flu, state media said Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to the H7N9 virus to three.

One patient, a 34-year-old male chef, remains in critical condition since falling ill on April 6. The other, a 65-year-old male farmer who had regular contact with poultry, has stabilised since developing symptoms on April 8.

The victim in Beijing was the seven-year-old daughter of poultry traders, who have been quarantined for observation but have not shown symptoms so far, while the girl's condition has stabilised.

Proper Hygiene can Prevent Spread of H7N9, Says UN
A strict hygiene and keeping different breeds of animals apart, if carried out, can curb the spread of H7N9 virus, which claimed the lives of six, says UN.

Health authorities in China say they do not know exactly how the virus is spreading, but it is believed to be crossing from birds to humans, prompting mass poultry culls in several cities.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization has said H7N9 shows "affinity" to humans while causing "very mild or no disease" in infected poultry, making it more difficult to find the source of transmission.

In 2003 Chinese authorities were accused of trying to cover up the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which went on to kill about 800 people worldwide.

But China has been praised for transparency over H7N9, with the WHO saying it was pleased with the level of information sharing and US scientists congratulating it for "the apparent speed with which the H7N9 virus was identified" in a New England Journal of Medicine article.

China has said it expects to have a vaccine ready in seven months but in the article the US experts said developing one could take "many months".