The Chinese government has confirmed that a 41-year-old woman died from the H5N1 strain of the bird flu. The woman lived in the southeast part of China and became the third person to die of the deadly disease according to official government records.
The woman was a factory worker in the city of Sanming in Fujian province. She died December 21 after reportedly contracting the disease on December 6 according to the Chinese Health Ministry.
A report in China's official Xinhua News Agency said that laboratory tests confirmed the woman died from the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu.
Thus far, there have been seven confirmed cases of the bird flu with three of the patients dying as a result of the disease.
The Chinese government has just announced a program to inoculate all of the nation's 5.2 billion poultry birds.
Thus far, the disease has only spread to people through contact with infected poultry birds. The World Health Organization fears that the disease could mutate and be passed directly from person to person. If so, scientists say the result could be the worst worldwide pandemic since the Spanish flu of 1918-1921. As many as 50 million people died of the Spanish flu in the wake of World War I.
Chinese authorities are trying to prevent the spread of the disease during the celebration of the Chinese New Year, which takes place in late January. Many Chinese travel to visit family at that time.
