At least 227 people who had close contact with two bird flu patients in the provinces of Hunan and Guizhou are under observation, although none has yet been found to be infected, health officials said on Tuesday.

A Hunan health department spokesman said 140 people had been examined including the patients' relatives and medical workers in Changsha County and Huaihua City as of Tuesday noon. No abnormalities were found.

A two-year-old girl fell ill on January 7 in Changsha County and was confirmed to be infected with bird flu in Shanxi Province on Saturday. On Tuesday morning, a 16-year-old male student, who fell ill on January 8 in Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou, died in a hospital in Huaihua.

The Qiandongnan prefectural government said Tuesday that 87 people who had close contact with the student were not affected.

Three people have died of bird flu and another has been infected in China so far this year. The first death was a 19-year-old woman in Beijing on January 5, followed by a 27-year-old woman in Shandong on January 17 and a 16-year-old male student in Hunan on January 20. A two-year-old patient surnamed Peng was still receiving treatment in Shanxi.

The fatality rate for bird flu patients is more than 60 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2009)