News - China says girl may have died of bird flu

The H5N1 virus has not yet been confirmed in a 12-year-old girl who died in October, her 9-year-old brother and a 36-year-old teacher. All lived in a part of Hunan Province where hundreds of birds have been sickened.

The government originally said the two children tested negative for the virus. But the ministry said more tests will be performed.

China has had four outbreaks of avian influenza in domestic fowl in recent weeks in Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Anhui and Liaoning.

All previous cases of H5N1 in humans have been in Southeast Asia, where 100 people have died. The virus has so far spread only to people in close contact with domestic birds.

China says girl may have died of bird flu