China has not confirmed the possibility of bird flu spreading from person to person

The Ministry of Health of China on December 10 said that it has not yet confirmed the possibility of human-to-human transmission of influenza in the case of Mr. and Mrs. Lu (in Nanjing City, Jiangsu provincial capital) with the same disease. in the past two weeks.

Chinese officials confirmed on December 7 that Mr. Lu, 52, was infected with the H5N1 virus. The patient had flu symptoms and was hospitalized on December 3 in mild pneumonia, but after treatment was now showing signs of recovery. His son, who died on December 2, was also confirmed to be infected with the H5N1 virus, but had no contact with dead poultry before and authorities did not detect any bird flu outbreak in Jiangsu Province. .

Mr. Mao Pants (Photo: Xinhuanet)

Chinese Ministry of Health spokesman Mao Quan An said the test results showed that the virus detected in the child's specimen originated from poultry and has not yet been modified. This virus does not have biological properties from human to human.

However, in the case of a father's ability to spread the disease, he is likely to become infected through contact with a child, or both father and son, from the same source, or from different sources of disease. However, all three possibilities have not been confirmed and intensive investigation is still underway.

The health agency is still closely monitoring those who have contact with the father and son Luc and none of them have any unusual symptoms.

Since 2003, China has had 27 cases of bird flu, 17 of whom have died.