Senin 01 Apr 2013 23:59 WIB

Questions in China on how H7N9 flu strain killed two

Red: Yeyen Rostiyani
A vendor waits for customers near chicken cages at a market in Fuyang city, in central China's Anhui province, Sunday, March 31, 2013. Two Shanghai men have died from a lesser-known type of bird flu in the first known human deaths from the strain.
Foto: AP
A vendor waits for customers near chicken cages at a market in Fuyang city, in central China's Anhui province, Sunday, March 31, 2013. Two Shanghai men have died from a lesser-known type of bird flu in the first known human deaths from the strain.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING - Health officials say they still don't understand how a lesser-known bird flu virus was able to kill two men and seriously sicken a woman in China, but that it's unlikely that it can spread easily among humans.

Two men in Shanghai became the first known human fatalities from the H7N9 bird flu virus after contracting it in February. A woman in the eastern city of Chuzhou remains in serious condition, China's National Health and Family Planning Commission said.

It was unclear how the three patients became infected, the health agency said. It sought to calm fears about the virus but provided few details about each case. Authorities have not described the patients' occupations or said whether they had come into contact with birds or other animals.

The health authority noted, however, that two sons of one of the Shanghai men also suffered from acute pneumonia, one of whom died, and the source of their infection is still unknown. Other people who were in close contact with the victims have not become sick, indicating that the virus is not easily transmitted between humans.