China confirms new human H7N9 case

GUANGZHOU - South China's Guangdong province reported its third human H7N9 case in four days on Wednesday, raising the total H7N9 cases in the province to five since August.

The new patient is a 62-year-old resident surnamed Liang in Yangjiang City, said the provincial health authority. He is in critical condition.

A 39-year-old man in Dongguan City and a 65-year-old woman in Yangjiang were confirmed to have been infected by the H7N9 strain on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

So far, Guangdong has confirmed five human H7N9 cases since August 10, with two in Dongguan, two in Yangjiang and one in Huizhou City. Its first case, a 51-year-old woman in Huizhou, recovered in September after being treated in a hospital for more than one month.

The province dispatched five inspection teams to 21 cities and a district on Wednesday to strengthen H7N9 prevention and control efforts.

The Chinese mainland has reported 143 human infections of the deadly bird flu virus since it emerged in March. Earlier this month, Hong Kong also confirmed its first two H7N9 cases, including an Indonesian national and a mainland resident.

Also on Wednesday, health authorities in east China's Jiangxi Province confirmed a human case of H10N8, a new strain of bird flu known to affect humans.

A 73-year-old woman who died of respiratory failure on December 6 was later confirmed to have been carrying the H10N8 virus by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the provincial health department. The statement did not mention whether her death was connected to the bird flu virus.