BEIJING: - The World Health Organisation yesterday said there was no evidence of a bird flu epidemic in China after a fifth person died of the disease this month, but urged caution over the Chinese New Year holiday.

On Monday, a teenage boy, 18, succumbed to the H5N1 strain of the virus, bringing to five the number of fatalities from the disease in China this year alone.

The number of cases has sparked fears of an epidemic, particularly during this week's Chinese New Year, as hundreds of millions of families across China reunite around huge feasts that include poultry.

'What we are seeing is so far within our expectations and broadly matches previous years,' he told AFP. 'There is no evidence of an epidemic.

'Also, the China cases are geographically scattered and sporadic, with no sign of any connection between them.'

Last year, China saw only three bird flu deaths - all of which occurred in the first two months of the year.

But Mr Cordingley urged caution during the biggest holiday of the year in China, saying that the mass movement of people and poultry brought a heightened risk of humans mingling with chickens.

'(This) is not a situation we are comfortable with, and the increase in consumption of chicken meat presents dangers of people unknowingly handling infected meat,' he said.

China is considered one of the nations most at risk of bird flu epidemics because it has the world's biggest poultry population and many chickens in rural areas are kept close to humans.

The H5N1 virus typically spreads from birds to humans via direct contact, but experts fear it could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, with the potential to kill millions in a pandemic.

Cold weather also encourages the spread of the virus and large parts of China have been hit by sub-zero temperatures in recent days.

Some of the bird flu victims had come into contact with dead or sick poultry before falling ill, according to previous Health Ministry statements.

Mr Cordingley said this indicated that there was a problem with animal surveillance in China.

At least two other people in China have fallen ill with avian influenza this month, including a two-year-old girl who contracted the disease in Hunan.

She is now out of danger and the other patient, a 29-year-old in the south-western province of Guizhou, is in a 'stable' condition, according to previous reports by the official Xinhua news agency.

In Egypt, the Health Ministry there has confirmed that a two-year-old Egyptian girl has been infected with the bird flu virus, becoming the country's 53rd case of bird flu in humans.

The toddler contracted the virus through exposure to household poultry, some of which died of the disease.

Of the 53 people who have had the disease in Egypt about three years ago, 23 have died, but the number of cases seems to be diminishing.

Since the first case in 2003, there have been 252 human deaths globally from the H5N1 strain of bird flu and at least 399 confirmed cases of infection. Egypt has had more cases than any country outside Asia.

Is this article useful to you?