The father of a young man who died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu in east China's Jiangsu Province last Sunday was recovering yesterday after he was infected with the same virus, the provincial health authorities said.

The 52-year-old man surnamed Lu from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, showed "signs of improvement", according to bird flu prevention experts in Jiangsu.

Lu was feverish on Monday when he was under medical observation at home. Medical experts immediately sent him to the designated hospital for treatment.

The experts said the signs of improvement proved his treatment was timely and effective.

The local government had taken prevention and control measures. All the people who had close contact with Lu have been put under strict medical observation. So far, they have shown no signs of the disease.

The Ministry of Health had also reported the case to the World Health Organization, authorities in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and some foreign governments.

Lu's son was said to have no contact with dead poultry and the Jiangsu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau said no bird flu epidemic had been discovered in the province.

China has reported 27 human cases of bird flu since 2003. Lu's son was the 17th Chinese who died of the disease since 2003.

Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that could pass easily from person to person, sparking a global pandemic.