China's Health Ministry says a fourth person has died from bird flu this
year.
The ministry said on its Web site Saturday that the latest victim
is a 31-year-old woman who lived in the far northwest region of Xinjiang. The
report said she died early Friday morning.
A statement Wednesday from
the ministry said there was no evidence of the possibility of a large-scale
outbreak, noting that those who died lived in different parts of the
country.
However, the government has warned that with the beginning of
the Lunar New Year holiday on Monday, with an increase in the sale and movement
of poultry, there could be a higher risk of an epidemic.
The World
Health Organization says bird flu has killed 248 people since it resurfaced in
Asia in 2003. This latest death brings China's total to 24