Human to human spread of bird flu suspected in China

Health authorities in China have announced that the father of a man who died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu last week also has the lethal virus.

The man, a 52-year-old from Nanjing the capital of the eastern province Jiangsu, apparently became ill with a fever on Thursday and tests on samples from his respiratory tract have confirmed he has the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Mr Lu's son died a week ago from the deadly virus and there is very real concern that the virus has been transmitted from the son to the father.

If this in fact the case it will be the first reported instance of human to human transmission and could indicate that the virus has mutated to enable it to do just this.

To date all known infections have been the result of close contact with infected birds, but experts have always been concerned that a mutation on the part of the virus, allowing it to pass from person to person could trigger a pandemic with the potential to sweep the globe and kill millions.

This latest case is a worry because both the father and the son had reportedly had no contact with infected poultry and the Jiangsu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau says there have been no reported outbreaks in poultry in the province.

China is at the centre of the fight against bird flu as it has the world's biggest poultry population and millions of backyard birds roam free and are vulnerable to infection by the wild bird population.

People in many parts of China keep backyard birds to supplement their very limited supply of food and are often reluctant to cooperate with the authorities when faced with their food supply being eliminated.

Also in the past criticism has been levelled at China's transparency regarding the reporting of disease outbreaks and also the way some disease outbreaks have been handled.

The number of confirmed human infections of bird flu in China now stands at 27 and Mr Lu's son was the 17th Chinese to die of the disease since 2003.

China's Ministry of Health has reported the case to the World Health Organization, authorities in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and foreign governments.

Local authorities have implemented prevention and control measures and all who were in close contact with Mr Lu have been put under strict medical observation.