A villager from east China has been discharged from hospital after three months of treatment for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Li Yinxiu, a resident of Xiaosong Township, Fujian Province, left the Jian'ou city hospital on Tuesday morning.

"She has recovered from the influenza, and her blood pressure, breathing, pulse and temperature are back to normal," said Lin Zhangshu, Li's doctor.

Lin said that Li had slipped into a critical condition three times during the three months of treatment and that she was one of the most serious cases of human bird flu he had seen.

During Li's treatment, doctors injected her with blood serum of a cured bird flu patient in east China's Anhui Province to improve her immunity. The method had succeeded in helping with the recovery of a bird flu patient in Shenzhen last year.

Medical experts from three hospitals in Beijing and more than 20 doctors in Fujian participated in the treatment process.

Li, 44, developed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on Feb. 18 after being in contact with dead poultry. She was diagnosed with human avian influenza by experts from China's Ministry of Health on Feb. 28.

"A doctor in her village will carry out medical checks every day and report her condition to us to ensure her complete recovery," said Huang Jian, deputy director of the Jian'ou Health Bureau.

The ministry confirmed on Saturday a 19-year-old People's Liberation Army soldier surnamed Cheng, had contracted the bird flu virus and is currently receiving treatment at an army hospital.

The soldier developed symptoms of fever, cough and pneumonia on May 9 and was sent to an army hospital on May 14, the ministry said, without giving further details about his condition.

China has reported a total of 25 human cases of bird flu since 2003, which have resulted in 15 deaths.

The health ministry confirmed last August that the country's first human case of H5N1 bird flu virus occurred in November 2003. A 24-year-old man who died in Beijing in 2003, was initially thought to have died from SARS.

According to the World Health Organization, confirmed human cases of avian influenza totaled 307, including 186 deaths as of May 24 since 2003. The human cases of the disease worldwide reported to the WHO have reached 44, including 28 deaths, this year.

Source: Xinhua