Bird Flu confirmed in China

World Health Organization officials have confirmed that a 2 year old girl has tested positive for bird flu, making it the second confirmed case this month. The girl fell ill in a central province of China, but has been moved to her home province in the north. The girl fell ill on January 7, just two days after the first confirmed case of January died after handling poultry in Beijing.

The bird flu is caused by the H5N1 virus, which has been found in birds in over 60 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Birds in North and South America, including the Caribbean, have not tested positive for the virus, and remain uninfected.

Since 2005, China has reported 30 cases of the virus in humans, with 2/3 of them being fatal. Human to human transmission is rare, as most cases come from handling poultry, but scientists fear a mutation of the virus could cause a global pandemic.