Bird flu strain that killed man won't spread: China

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The strain of bird flu that killed a Chinese bus driver won't spread to other people, a health agency said on Monday. The Shenzhen Disease Control Center appealed for calm while officials investigated how the man contracted the H5N1 strain of the virus.

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The 39-year-old driver, Chen, had developed a fever on December. 21 and was hospitalized December. 25, according to local authorities. Tests confirmed he had H5N1, the first case of the disease in humans in 18 months.

Genetic tests indicated the virus spread directly from poultry to the man, who died on Saturday in the southern city of Shenzhen, according to the disease control center.

"Though it is highly pathogenic to human beings, the virus cannot spread among people," the statement said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. "There is no need for Shenzhen citizens to panic."

Humans are rarely infected with H5N1 and usually only those who come into close contact with diseased poultry get bird flu. Scientists are monitoring the virus for any signs it is becoming more easily transmissible from human to human.

The Guangdong health department has said 120 people who had close contact with Chen have not developed any abnormal symptoms.

The World Health Organization says 336 people have died from 573 confirmed bird flu cases since 2003. Of these, 40 cases were in China, 26 of which were fatal.

Chen's death was a week after two dead birds tested positive for the virus in Hong Kong, which is just across a river from Shenzhen.

More than 19,000 birds at a Hong Kong market were slaughtered and imports and sales of live poultry were banned for three weeks after a chicken carcass tested positive for H5N1. Lab tests later confirmed that an Oriental magpie robin found dead on Dec. 17 was also infected.

China's last reported human case of H5N1 was in June 2010. A pregnant 22-year-old woman from central Hubei province died after being exposed to sick and dead poultry.

Recently, the U.S. government asked two medical journals to withhold details from upcoming studies on how the H5N1 bird flu strain can spread to humans, citing concerns that bioterrorists could use the information as a weapon.

The World Health Organization has more on bird flu.