The Xinhua news agency said a 29-year-old man in southwest China is in critical condition after testing positive for the H5N1 virus. The man fell ill on January 15 in Guizhou province.

 

Now the authorities are monitoring all people who came in close contact with the man but no one else has been found ill so far, the agency further reported.

 

The bird flu case of the 29-year-old-man is the sixth this year. The victim had previously been exposed to “live poultry markets.”

 

Bird flu killed four people during the first few weeks of 2009 and health specialists expect the virus will strike again, if the authorities don’t take the necessary measures. On Friday, a 31-year-old woman from Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region died from the bird flu.

 

A 16-year-old boy died on Tuesday morning.  The boy fell ill on January 8 in his hometown and he was transferred to a hospital in Huaihua on January 16, when his condition worsened. According to some sources, he had contact with dead poultry. The other two bird flu deaths were a 27-year-old woman in Shandong province, who died on Saturday, and a 19-year-old woman who died in Beijing on January 5.

 

Chinese authorities fear that the number of people getting the bird flu would rise as low temperatures and high humidity environments present during the winter time in China are known to be the virus’ favorite habitation.