Roast-duck vendor dies from H7N9 bird flu in central China

ZHENGZHOU - A 36-year-old man died after contracting H7N9 bird flu, said health authorities in Central China's Henan province, on Saturday.

The man, identified as Zhang, died on Jan 11, the Henan provincial health and family planning commission said in a statement.

He is from Yongcheng city, but had worked in Zhejiang province as a roast-duck vendor. On Dec 25, he had fever and coughing. He returned to Yongcheng on Jan 2 and went to see a doctor in Xuzhou City on Jan 4.

Yongcheng city is closely monitoring the health conditions of 16 people who had close contact with the patient. None of them has shown symptoms of fever.

H7N9, a bird flu strain, strikes in winter and spring. It was first reported in humans in China in March 2013.

New infections of the bird flu kept popping up in separate provinces. More than 10 cases have been reported since January begins, in Jiangxi, Shandong, Hunan, Guangdong, Guizhou, Shanghai and Macao.

Experts with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that China had entered high season for infection of the H7N9 virus, and the possibility of more reported cases in southern China was not being ruled out.

The public should avoid contact with dead poultry, live poultry, birds and their waste, and purchase only certified poultry products, they advised.