China official bird flu toll now 10

Mar 8 2006

The death of young child in China now brings the country's death toll from bird flu to ten.

According to the Ministry of Health the nine-year-old girl from China's eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, died on Monday, but it was not initially confirmed whether she died from the virulent H5N1 flu virus.

China's Ministry of Health says while the cause of the girl's infection was being investigated, it was revealed she had visited the home of relatives whose chickens died while she was there.

To date the H5N1 virus has killed at least 95 people since 2003 and decimated poultry stocks.

Fresh outbreaks have been reported in as many as fifteen countries since early February.

The disease remains predominantly a bird disease and most human infections have been linked to direct contact with sick or dead poultry.

Experts repeatedly warn that the virus could mutate into a form that could be easily transmitted between people, possibly sparking a global flu pandemic that could kill millions.