Pregnant women with bird flu pass it on to their unborn

Chinese experts say they have found that pregnant women infected with the H5N1 bird-flu virus can pass the disease on to their unborn babies.

In a study by scientists at Peking University tissue taken from the body of a 24-year-old pregnant woman who died from bird flu, found the virus was also present in the placenta and had infected the fetus.

Gu Jiang, director of the School of Basic Medical Sciences which is affiliated to Peking University, says this however does not mean that the bird flu virus can be transmitted from one person to another.

Gu Jiang who led the study says the virus was also found in the alimentary canal, brain, blood cells and respiratory tract of both the mother and the fetus and the unborn child's lungs and liver were also affected.

Gu Jiang says to date no substantiated case of inter human transmission has been recorded but all will depend on how the virus further mutates.

Gu says his research project, which also involved studying tissue from a 35-year-old man killed by the virus, was the eighth of its kind worldwide and is significant for the treatment and prevention of bird flu.

Gu says blood and feces from people infected with the virus must be handled extremely carefully to avoid further spreading of the disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also says example of transfer does not prove that the virus can be transmitted from one human to another, as the mother and her unborn child are considered to function as one body.

Latest reports say that that bird flu outbreaks have occurred in Vietnam's northern Cao Bang Province bringing the number of localities in Vietnam affected by the disease to three.

According to officials a total of 480 ducks and 80 chickens in 13 households in Trung Khanh district were infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus strain and local veterinary officials have collected all the infected birds and isolated the affected areas.