Fears rise over 'human to human' bird flu transmission

Chinese health authorities have refused to confirm that a new outbreak of bird flu represents a human-to-human transmission of the deadly disease.

Two family members, a father and son, in the country's eastern province of Jiangsu, have been struck down by the human form of the H5N1 virus, but officials claimed that they have found no link between the two cases, Xinhua reported.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern that the two cases, which have so far resulted in the death of the 24-year-old son, have not both been linked with the expected animal-to-human transmission of the virus.

"The virus in the first case originated with poultry and has not mutated. It has no biological features for human-to-human transmission," Mao Qun'an, spokesman of the ministry of health, told Xinhua.

WHO spokesman, John Rainford, told the BBC: "We are concerned. The fact that we have two cases here without necessarily a clear source of animal infection and within the same family means we need to make sure we do a thorough investigation."

While Indonesia has been worst hit by outbreaks of bird flu among humans, China has, to date, reported 26 cases of the virus, 17 of which have been fatal, the website stated.

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