China said today that a woman farmer had died of bird flu, its second confirmed fatality from the virus that is spreading across Asia.
The H5N1 virus had already killed at least 67 people in Asia since 2003. It remains hard for people to catch but there are fears it could mutate into a form which can be passed from person to person, sparking a pandemic in which millions could die.
In Europe, public health officials across the 25-nation European Union began a two-day exercise on Wednesday to test their readiness to respond to a human flu pandemic.
The Xinhua news agency, quoting the Health Ministry, said the 35-year-old victim had developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on November 11 after contact with sick and dead poultry in the eastern Anhui province. She died on November 22.
Xinhua said tests by China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had proved positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
A poultry worker from Anhui died of bird flu on November 10.