Second new H7N9 case in 2 days hits Guangdong

A 65-year-old mainland woman was in critical condition after being diagnosed with the deadly H7N9 bird flu strain, Guangdong health authorities announced last night.

It comes as Hong Kong lawmakers warned that concerns over bird flu had led to a glut of 100,000 birds at poultry farms in the city as consumers steered clear of buying live birds. They feared that the build-up of birds could in turn heighten the risk of H7N9 infections.

The latest person to test positive to H7N9 in Hong Kong's neighbouring province is a retired woman from Yangjiang , 230 kilometres west of the city. She became the fourth case in the province after a 39-year-old Dongguan man was diagnosed with the strain on Sunday.

He was also in critical condition and a restaurant he dined at was closed for disinfection after it was suspected as being the source of infection.

That followed a week-long shutdown at two wet markets in Shenzhen's Longgang district where H7N9 was discovered during tests on chickens.

On December 2, Hong Kong confirmed its first human case of bird flu when an Indonesian helper became critically ill after a visit to Shenzhen. A Shenzhen resident being treated in Hong Kong became the city's second confirmed case on December 6.