The father of a young man who died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Jiangsu Province last Sunday was recovering over the weekend after he was infected with the same virus, the health authorities said over the weekend.

The 52-year-old man, surnamed Lu, from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, showed "signs of improvement", bird flu prevention experts said.

Lu was feverish on Monday when he was under medical observation at home. Medical experts immediately sent him to the designated hospital.

The experts said the signs of improvement proved his treatment was timely and effective.

The local government had taken prevention and control measures. All the people who had close contact with Lu have been put under strict medical observation.

So far, they have shown no signs of the disease.

The Ministry of Health had also reported the case to the World Health Organization, authorities in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and a few foreign governments.

Lu's son was said to have no contact with dead poultry and the Jiangsu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau said no bird flu epidemic had been discovered in the province.

China has reported 27 human cases of bird flu since 2003. Lu's son was the 17th Chinese to have died of the disease since 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency & China Daily December 10, 2007)