Two die of H7N9 in Shanghai

Two men in Shanghai, including a medical worker, have died from H7N9 bird flu, the municipal health authority said in a report on Monday.

The two fatalities were a 31-year-old doctor and a 77-year-old farmer. Both died in the early morning of Saturday and tested positive for the H7N9 virus on Sunday, the municipal commission of health and family planning said.

Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Hospital said on Monday that the deceased doctor was Zhang Xiaodong, who worked as a surgeon at the hospital. The hospital denied Zhang caught the virus from a patient as it said it has no H7N9 patients.

Seven human H7N9 infections have been reported in Shanghai, according to the city's health authority.

"People who had close contact with those infected have been put under health observation and reported no discomfort," the hospital added.

Across the country, provinces including Guangdong, Guizhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian have reported new cases of human infection of H7N9 bird flu in the first three weeks of this year, but the National Health and Family Planning Commission said an H7N9 epidemic is unlikely.

"The current cases are scattered and no mutation of the virus has been identified so far that could affect public health," the commission said on Friday.