THE WORLD HEALTH Organisation has confirmed that an elderly Chinese man has been infected with avian flu.
The 86-year-old man from Jiangsu on the eastern coast of China started to feel unwell while on a trip to Taiwan on 19 December.
He was then admitted to hospital on 24 December after being diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and the life-threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome.
He currently remains in hospital and is breathing with the help of a breathing tube.
The other members of the tour, except the man’s two daughters, have returned from the trip but none have shown any symptoms of infection.
The WHO say that so far there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission.
The bird flu strain identified in the ill man is the H7N9 strain with the WHO not as yet advising any special screening at points of entry as a result of the infection.
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