Bangkok has first human case of bird flu

Health authorities in Thailand are investigating the first confirmed human infection from bird flu in Bangkok.

Apparently in the first case of the disease in the capital, an 18-month-old boy has been diagnosed with bird flu.

According to health officials, the house where the boy contracted the virus had two chickens and one fighting cock, which had died on Oct 31th but they only reported this to authorities after the boy fell sick.

The public health ministry says that the boy became ill on Nov 1st and went to hospital on Nov 3rd with a runny nose, fever and coughing.

It seems the boy's 65-year-old grandmother has also shown symptoms of the disease, but so far has tested negative.

Doctors are presently waiting for the results of further tests.

The young child is the 21st case of bird flu diagnosed in Thailand since the deadly H5N1 virus was first detected in the country in Jan 2004.

Thirteen of those cases have been fatal.

Both China and Vietnam have reported fresh outbreaks of the lethal strain of bird flu on Saturday.

The latest China outbreak is its eighth within a month, and is in Jingshan county in Hubei province, indicating the virus appears to be spreading.

Four suspected human cases of the virus are being investigated, but to date there have been no confirmed human infections in the country.

Government authorities say that the latest outbreak has killed 2,500 birds, and more than 30,000 birds are being culled.

The H5N1 strain has devastated poultry flocks across Asia since 2003, and killed at least 64 people.

Officials say in Vietnam, which has had two-thirds of the human deaths, two more provinces reported bird flu outbreaks, bringing to nine the total number of affected provinces.

Authorities have ordered the destruction of all birds in the two infected areas, about 10,000 in total.

In the past month, more than 130,000 poultry have been culled throughout the country as Vietnam battles to stop the spread of the virus.