Authorities are trying to determine whether this 9-year-old boy, who was recovering yesterday from a pneumonia-type illness in Changsha, Hunan Province, was infected by the bird-flu virus. The boy's 12-year-old sister died on October 17 apparently from the same illness. They were identified only by the family name He. - Xinhua

Liaoning province authorities said yesterday they've screened 57,000 people living in a county stricken by China's latest bird-flu outbreak and have found no human victims of the disease.
The main focus was on the more than 3,000 people who came in close contract with the diseased birds in Heishan County.
Medical workers are disinfecting the disease sites and handing out preventive drugs to anyone who might have been exposed to the virus.
The county has also set up a quarantine area for people who might have been exposed to the dead poultry. Those confined are receiving frequent temperature checks and are being closely monitoring for flu symptoms. The number of quarantined residents was not disclosed.
The outbreak was discovered when Heishan poultry farmers reported the deaths of nearly 9,000 chickens on October 26. The Ministry of Agriculture later confirmed that the deaths were caused by the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu.
The epidemic spread to 18 townships, and more than 6 million birds were slaughtered in the affected areas.
China has experienced bird-flu outbreaks in Anhui, Hunan, and Liaoning provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in recent weeks.
In addition to disinfection, vaccination and quarantine measures at outbreak sites, the sale of live poultry has been banned in several big cities, including Beijing.
Meanwhile the World Health Organization's China office urged authorities to intensify protection against possible human infection and ensure the sharing of information and virus samples with other countries.
Roy wadia, a WHO spokesman in Beijing, said the fact that no human cases have been reported so far in China doesn't mean there are none.
The who is now helping China determine whether three cases of pneumonia-type illnesses in Hunan Province might be linked to bird flu. A 12-year-old girl died on October 17, and her 9-year-old brother and a 36-year-old school teacher are recovering from the same illness.
All three had been in close contact with dead poultry prior to becoming sick.
Praising china for the huge resources it has devoted to its bird flu campaign, Wadia said it is "just a start" and called on the nation to remain vigilant against human infection.
Facing who's warning of a possible human pandemic if the virus mutates, China has toughened its measures to fight the virus. It has launched a national command center for the prevention and control of bird flu and earmarked US$250 million dollars to fund the battle.