Death toll from new avian flu in China increases to 6

As new H7N9 type avian influenza virus has been discovered in pigeons collected at an agricultural market, Shanghai city authorities shut down the live-poultry trading zone and culled all poultry at the market Thursday. The authorities will inspect whether the new avian flu virus has been mutated into a form that is contagious among people. The A1 virus had known to be no evidence of possible human-to-human transmission.

As a 64-year-old farmer in Zhejiang Province died of the H7N9 type flu virus Friday, the total death toll has increased to six. The Chinese government instructed all public health authorities nationwide to shift sporadic reporting on avian flu infection and treatment to a daily reporting system.

zsh75@donga.com