China announces eighth bird flu death
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-11 09:39

Infected poultry and birds are believed to be main sources of infection among people worldwide, and health ministry spokesman Mao Qunan told reporters this was most likely the case in China as well.

But he said finding the exact source of infections was proving extremely difficult.

He said some patients could be living in environments that became contaminated with the virus through "unknown channels", with the virus in those cases not necessarily causing large-scale deaths among animals.

"There is a lack of accurate information regarding the contamination of the environment from infected animals," Mao said, referring to the global problem as well as China.

However Mao reassured there was no evidence of the virus mutating into a strain that could be transmitted easily among humans.

"There is no evidence that this virus is able to go through drastic mutation into an extent that could lead to human-to-human infection," Mao said.

Around the world there have been 165 human cases of H5N1 bird flu since 2003, 88 of which have been fatal, according to an official toll posted on Friday on the WHO website.

This figure is for cases notified to the WHO as of February 9.

It does not include the eighth fatality in China, nor does it include a woman diagnosed with bird flu in Indonesia, reported on Thursday.