Beijing: A 22-year-old man has died of bird flu in the central Hunan Province, taking the total number of human deaths to 18 since 2003.

The man, surnamed Li, had fever and headache on January 16, was hospitalised on January 22, and died two days later after his condition worsened, the Ministry of Health has said.

The specimens collected from the man by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention tested positive for the bird flu strain H5N1 but it did not say how he might have contracted the disease.

According to the World Health Organisation, there have been 28 confirmed cases of infection in China, including 18 deaths, since 2003. Worldwide, there have been 225 fatal cases of human bird flu till February 1.

Official Xinhua news agency said local government has taken preventive and control measures and people in contact with the victim were under observation.

WHO and some foreign governments had been informed, it said.

China with the world's biggest poultry population is in the forefront in the fight against the bird flu.
Source : PTI