First two human deaths from bird flu reported

BEIJING: Two people in China’s Anhui province have died from H7N9 bird flu, the first fatalities in China among this winter’s cases, while Macau reported its first human H7N9 infection since the former Portuguese colony returned to China in 1999.

Anhui has reported five cases of H7N9 avian flu since Dec 8, including the two people who died, the eastern province’s health authority said in a statement dated Dec 21, posted on its website.