Beijing: China said that no other cases of bird flu have been detected in Beijing and neighboring provinces after a woman died from the avian influenza in the capital.

The Agricultural Ministry said in a notice on its Web site that authorities had investigated poultry in Beijing, the port city of Tianjin and neighboring Hebei province, but no other cases have been found.

"Bird flu epidemic was not found in any of these three provinces and cities," it said.

Inspectors have stepped up checks of poultry markets and slaughterhouses and have banned live poultry from entering the capital after China's first bird flu death since February of last year. Medical professionals are also visiting families in all districts in Beijing to look out for bird flu symptoms, the China Daily newspaper said.

The World Health Organization said the case did not appear to signal a new public health threat.

China raises more poultry than any other country, many on small farms. The Agricultural Ministry said it will step up checks before the traditional Spring Festival holiday, or Chinese New Year, when hundreds of millions of people return home to their families and rural farms.

China's Health Ministry said tests confirmed that Huang Yanqing, 19, had contracted the H5N1 bird flu virus. She died Monday in a Beijing hospital.

The WHO said Huang's case was similar to others reported worldwide in that it does not appear to involve human-to-human transmission.
Source : PTI