By JERUSALEM POST STAFFChina reported its second confirmed human death from bird flu as it prepared to test a vaccine on people amid increasingly drastic measures to contain outbreaks of the disease in poultry, state media said Thursday.
The latest fatality was a 35-year-old farmer identified only by her surname, Xu, who died Tuesday after developing a fever and pneumonia-like symptoms following contact with sick and dead poultry, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Health Ministry.
The woman, who lived in Xiuning County in the eastern province of Anhui, tested positive for the H5N1 virus, Xinhua said.
The area is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Zongyang County, where the country's first human bird flu death was reported, said Roy Wadia, a spokesman for the World Health Organization in Beijing.
The 24-year-old woman, also a farmer, died Nov. 10 with the same symptoms as Xu after coming in contact with sick chickens and ducks at home.
Wadia said the WHO and the Health Ministry were discussing a trip to Anhui next week.