20.04.2006

A man in central China has died of avian influenza, the country's 12th H5N1 virus death since November.
There have been more than 30 outbreaks in poultry in a dozen provinces over the past year in China, making it one of the countries worst-hit by a virus that has spread with surprising speed this year, with outbreaks in more than 30 countries.
The victim is a 21 year old migrant worker surnamed Lai who worked as a security guard in Wuhan, capital of the central province of Hubei.

He had returned to his home outside Wuhan last month to attend a funeral and developed symptoms of pneumonia on April 1. On Tuesday the Health Ministry had confirmed that he had the H5N1 virus, making him the country's 17th human case (Reuters).