The father of a bird-flu victim who died in Jiangsu last week was confirmed to have been infected as well, the Ministry of Health announced yesterday.
The 52-year-old man, surnamed Lu, developed a fever a day after his 24-year-old son died of bird flu in a hospital in Nanjing last Sunday. The young man was the 17th person on the mainland to have died from the disease so far.
Jiangsu Provincial Disease Control and Prevention Centre on Wednesday found that the father was also infected with the H5N1 flu virus, the Ministry of Health reported on its website.
The State Disease Control and Prevention Centre confirmed Jiangsu health authorities' finding after conducting a separate test on Thursday.
The father is in stable condition. The ministry did not disclose the exact location of the case or the possible causes of the infection.
The ministry said it has already reported the latest case to the World Health Organisation and authorities in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as some foreign governments.
As a precaution, all people who had close contact with the Lu family have been put under strict medical observation but so far none have shown any sign of the disease.
In Hong Kong, the Centre for Health Protection confirmed it had received the central government's report.
It said it was liaising closely with the Ministry of Health to get more information about the case.
Hong Kong authorities said no live or frozen poultry or meat was imported to the city from Jiangsu.
Jiangsu health authorities earlier said the son developed a fever, chills and other symptoms on November 24 and was admitted to hospital three days later, but his condition deteriorated.
Xinhua quoted local sources as saying that the young man had been staying at home preparing for an exam and eating home-cooked food. He had had no contact with infected or dead fowl before developing the symptoms, according to health authorities.
So far 213, including seven people in Hong Kong, have died of H5N1 worldwide, hundreds of people have been infected and millions of birds culled.