The bird flu has been discovered in two new
cases in China in what has become the second outbreak in that country this
year.
The cases were discovered in Guiyang, located in
Southwest China. There a 21-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man tested
positive for the H1N1 bird flu virus over the weekend, the Global Post reported. Both were taken in to a hospital
for treatment and were listed in critical condition.
“They are in critical condition and medical
workers are carrying out emergency treatment. No epidemiological connections
have been found between the two cases,” the Chinese health ministry stated
(via Xinhua).
The two began developing symptoms on February 2
and February 3, and investigators believe neither had direct contact with birds
before falling ill.
“China is considered one of the nations most at
risk from bird flu epidemics because it has the world’s biggest poultry
population and many chickens in rural areas are kept close to humans.”
The bird flu cases in Guiyang makes the second
major city in China to be struck by the disease. In January, a 19-year-old
migrant worker died in Beijing after contracting bird flu.
Since the first major outbreak in 2003, bird
flu has been responsible for 365 deaths across the world, the World
Health Organization noted. It is most commonly spread through direct contact
between birds and humans, but health experts worry that it could mutate to
spread by person-to-person contact.
While the cases in China were found, bird flu
was also discovered at a farm in Kathmandu, the Himalayan
Times noted.
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