The Ministry of Health on Jan. 9 announced the country's eighth human case of H5N1 bird flu.

The infected was a 6-year-old boy surnamed Ouyang in Guiyang County of central China's Hunan Province, according to a report released by the ministry.

The infected boy is being hospitalized and his condition is stable, the Ministry said.

Investigation found domestic foul raised by Ouyang's family had died before he showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on Dec. 24, the Ministry said.

Ouyang's samples tested positive of H5N1 virus by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of China, said the ministry.

Ouyang has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu in accordance with the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese government, the ministry said.

Local health authorities have taken measures to check the spread of the virus. Persons who had close contact with the patient are under strict medical observation, but no abnormal clinical symptoms have been found in them so far.

The Chinese health ministry has informed the WHO, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as several countries of the new human case of bird flu.

Previously, the ministry had reported seven human cases of bird flu, including two fatalities in east China's Anhui Province, one fatality in southeast China's Fujian province, two recovered cases in central China's Hunan Province and northeast China's Liaoning Province, respectively, one in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and one in the eastern province of Jiangxi.

Source: Xinhua