China Says No Evidence Of Bird Flu Virus Mutation

The 19-year-old died of the H5N1 strain of the virus after gutting ducks bringing the total death toll to date to 21.

China does not have evidence to suggest that the bird flu virus has mutated into a form which can be spread by humans, the Health Ministry said on Monday, after a woman died last week in Beijing.

The 19-year-old died of the H5N1 strain of the virus after gutting ducks, China's first death in almost a year, bringing the total death toll to date to 21.

Experts say the case highlights the role and risks of waterfowl in the transmission of the virus to humans.

"According to information provided by experts, there is no evidence to show that the bird flu virus has mutated into a form which may cause transmission from person to person," ministry spokesman Mao Qunan told a news conference.

In Vietnam, too, health officials said there had been no human-to-human transmission after blood tests of 37 people who had direct contact with an 8-year-old girl now in hospital with the deadly avian disease showed none were infected, the state-run newspaper An Ninh Thu Do reported on Monday.

The girl's 13-year-old sister died early this month of what an official at the hospital where she was treated said may also have been bird flu.

The H5N1 strain remains largely a disease among birds but experts fear it could change into a form that is easily transmitted among people and kill millions of people worldwide.

Since the H5N1 virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003, it has infected 391 people, killing 247 of them, according to WHO figures released in mid-December.

The virus is generally more active during the cooler months between October and March, although the new Chinese case points to holes in surveillance of the virus in poultry.

Experts also say that many species of ducks are natural reservoirs of the virus and unlike chickens, they show no signs of disease.

"We remind everyone that at the same time as paying attention to protecting themselves, they should not have unnecessary fears," China's Mao added, according to a transcript carried on government website www.china.gov.cn.

With the world's biggest poultry population and hundreds of millions of farmers raising birds in their backyards, China is seen as crucial in the global fight against bird flu.