Last night, the Ministry of Health confirmed a new human case of H5N1 avian influenza, this time in Ziyuan County in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The patient is a 10-year-old girl named Tang, who has been ill with fever and pneumonia since November 23, the ministry said in a press release.

The girl was tested by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and has been under emergency treatment in hospital.

The diagnosis was made in accordance with WHO and national standards, and those who have had close contact with her are under medical observation with local health departments. So far, no unusual symptoms have been reported among them.

The ministry and regional health department have sent teams to direct and coordinate disease prevention and control in the area. Currently, experts are making further investigations into the source of the virus, since no bird flu cases have been reported in the county before.

The ministry has reported the case to the WHO, the special administration regions of Hong Kong and Macao and the island province of Taiwan, as well as some foreign nations, the press release said.

China has previously reported three confirmed human cases of bird flu, two of which were fatal, and another death that was thought likely but could not be verified. They were all in the provinces of Anhui and Hunan and are believed to have been contracted through contact with infected poultry.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2005)