China announced its eighth human case of H5N1 bird flu yesterday - a young boy whose family raised poultry.
The ministry of Health said the patient is a 6-year-old boy surnamed Ouyang in Guiyang County of central China's Hunan Province.
The infected boy is hospitalized and his condition is stable, the ministry said.
Investigation found domestic foul raised by Ouyang's family had died before the boy showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on December 24, the ministry said.
Ouyang's samples tested positive of H5N1 virus by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of China.
Ouyang was confirmed to be infected with bird flu in accordance with the standards of the World Health Organization and the Chinese government, the ministry said.
Local health authorities have taken measures to check the spread of the virus. Persons who had close contact with the patient are under strict medical observation, but no abnormal clinical symptoms have been found so far.
The health ministry has informed the WHO, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as several other countries of the new human case of bird flu.
Previously, China reported seven human cases of bird flu, including three fatalities, and about 30 outbreaks among poultry.
Human cases include two fatalities in east China's Anhui Province and one in southeast China's Fujian province.
Meanwhile, another six volunteers who were vaccinated with bird flu bacteria have been in good condition over the past five days, according to a doctor in charge of the clinical test.
The six volunteers didn't show poisoning, fever or flu-like symptoms, said Lin Jiangtao, dean of the Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital in Beijing.
So far, 36 volunteers have successfully undergone the clinical test, aimed at testing the security of the bacteria in the vaccine, said the doctor.
A total of 120 volunteers were divided into four groups, each with 30 members to accept different doses of bacteria. Multiple doses will be increased in each group.
Each volunteer will be vaccinated twice for greatest immunity.