China's Ministry of Health has confirmed another human death from bird flu, bringing the death toll up to seven.

The deceased was a 29-year-old woman, surnamed Cao, from Jinhua Town, Chengdu City in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the ministry's information office told Xinhua.

Cao was identified as the 10th human case in China on Monday, after having been hospitalized in a critical condition, according to the ministry. Three of the 10 human cases have either recovered or are still undergoing treatment.

On January 12, she was running a fever and showed symptoms of pneumonia. Her body samples tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian flu.

The office failed to provide more details about the victim, but said it is investigating the source of her infection and any possible bird flu outbreak among poultry in the area where she lived.

Hers is the second human bird flu death in Sichuan. The other deaths were reported in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, and in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Eighth human bird flu patient out of quarantine 

The eighth bird flu patient in the central province of Hunan has been removed from quarantine, a local hospital source said on Wednesday.

After a month's treatment, the 6-year-old patient surnamed Ouyang has recovered and can communicate and play with doctors and nurses like a normal child, said Zhu Yimin, head of the Hunan Provincial Children's Hospital.

The result of the patient's medical exams showed that he is not contagious, Zhu said.

His parents can now visit him in hospital where they will celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The boy was confirmed on January 9 to have been infected with H5N1 bird flu. He has suffered serious lung damage.

Ouyang had a fever and pneumonia symptoms on December 24. He was transferred to the hospital on January 11 and has been under round-the-clock monitoring since then.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2006)