Chinese Woman Dies of Bird Flu

A migrant worker has died of the H5N1 virus in southern China, the Hong Kong government said Tuesday, as the country confirmed its fourth outbreak of bird flu among poultry this year.

The woman who died Monday in Shanwei, a coastal city in eastern Guangdong province, tested positive for the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus, Hong Kong's Health Department said in a statement issued after receiving confirmation from China's Health Ministry.

Her death marked the country's 20th fatality from the deadly H5N1 virus and its third this year.

The woman had been in contact with dead poultry before becoming sick Feb. 16, a statement on the Web site of Guangdong's Health Department said Monday.

Meanwhile, China confirmed its fourth outbreak of bird flu among poultry this year but said it had been effectively contained.

Nearly 4,000 poultry were killed by the H5N1 virus in southwestern China's Guizhou province, the Agriculture Ministry said on its Web site Monday. Another 240,000 were culled to contain the outbreak.