Shanghai Daily news

Jiao Yang, a municipal spokesperson, denied reports that ran in some overseas newspapers on January 31, including the Hong Kong-based Mingpao, that the city government faxed a news release to mainland media outlets late on Friday acknowledging that "Shanghai has found and quarantined its first suspected bird flu patient."

Jiao on Saturday described the report as "a rumor" and said that the city government never released such information to the media.