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SCMP Reporter

Beijing health authorities confirmed yesterday  that a 19-year-old woman died in the capital from the H5N1 bird flu strain.
The woman, Huang Yanqing , was a migrant worker from Putian , Fujian province . She was living in Sanjianfang,  a densely populated community in the capital's Chaoyang district.
Huang bought nine ducks and had them butchered in a rural market in Langfang, Hebei province , on December 19, Xinhua said.
The municipal government said it had launched an emergency response plan  that included informing all municipal agencies about the incident and raising alerts in hospitals.
The World Health Organisation's China office said it was told about the death but was still seeking more details from the  government.
Mainland officials said Huang returned home,  washed the birds' internal organs and ate three of  the ducks with eight relatives. She   fell ill on December 24,  and three days later her family sent her to  hospital.
She died in Beijing Chest Hospital  on Monday morning.
Patient samples were sent to the Beijing Disease Control Centre,  the Academy of Military Medical Sciences  and the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Test results identified the  virus as H5N1, one of the most fatal and infectious bird flu strains.
More than 100 people, including family members, neighbours and medical personnel, were in close contact with the victim during her illness,  Xinhua reported. A nurse in the community hospital  has since recovered from a fever.
Officials said prevention and control measures, such as isolating the victim's home and ward, had been taken to stop the virus from spreading, but Huang's family and neighbours did not seem well informed.
Her uncle, Huang Jinxian , and two female relatives said   that they took a walk and bought food at neighbourhood grocery stores,   unaware that they were supposed to be in isolation.  'Nobody told us what we needed to do,' Mr Huang said. 'Quite frankly, I have no idea what bird flu is.'
There were no quarantine signs or warnings around or inside the house and visitors could freely  enter. Ten-year-old Han Jinlong ,  who lived    two doors away,  played  in front of Huang's house, unaware of the  danger.
In Hong Kong,  passengers arriving from Beijing at Chek Lap Kok airport will  hear a broadcast about bird flu and those going to the capital will hear one about avoiding  festivals  that host the slaughtering of birds.
The Centre for Health Protection  said it was maintaining 'close liaison' with the Ministry of Health.
A spokeswoman reminded people to be vigilant against bird flu and to avoid direct contact with poultry and birds or their droppings. Hong Kong remains  on 'serious alert'  following the outbreak of H5N1  at a Yuen Long farm last month. Poultry trade resumed last week after a 21-day shutdown.
Leslie Sims,  a bird flu consultant  at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation,  said human cases of H5N1 occurred largely as a result of exposure to infected poultry.
Dr Sims said there were more avian cases in winter and this winter would likely see the pattern repeated.
In northern Vietnam,  an eight-year-old girl from Thanh Hoa province   went to hospital on December 27 with a high fever. She  tested positive for the  virus.
From  1997  through last year,  there have been  254  bird flu deaths worldwide, and most of the victims were in Southeast Asia. The latest victim in Beijing raised  the mainland's  total death toll to 21 since 2003.
Additional reporting by Mary Ann Benitez



Young migrant worker dies of bird flu in Beijing after handling and eating ducks