China's latest human case of bird flu in south China's Guangdong Province has been showing signs of recovery,sources with the local health authorities said Wednesday.

X-rays showed the shadow on the patient's lungs had diminished, but he was still critically ill, said the Health Bureau of Shenzhen City.

The 31-year-old patient surnamed Jiang was confirmed by the Ministry of Health to have contracted bird flu on June 15, bringing China's total human infections to 19.

Jiang had been undergoing treatment for eight days in a local hospital, which had the most advanced intensive care unit in the city, said the bureau.

Meanwhile, medical observation of 98 people who had close contact with him had found no suspected symptoms, such as pneumonia or bird flu-like symptoms, said a statement from the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bird flu has killed 12 Chinese since last year. The disease has also infected 228 people and killed 130 worldwide, according to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Experts fear the H5N1 strain of the virus could mutate to become transmissible among people, causing a global pandemic. To date, most human cases had direct or indirect contact with infected birds.

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