China confirms third bird flu death this year

The official Xinhua news agency said the boy, who had fallen ill on January 8, died in the city of Huaihua in the central Hunan province.

The country's Ministry of Health moved to allay fears over the outbreak, saying that although further human bird flu cases were possible throughout China, there wouldn't be a large-scale outbreak, Xinhua and CCTV said.

On Saturday, a 27-year-old woman from eastern China died of bird flu, Chinese authorities said, making her the second person to die this year from the deadly virus.

The woman fell ill on January 5 in Shandong province on the country's east coast and died on Saturday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Two tests on the woman were positive for H5N1 avian influenza, said the ministry, which did not say how she might have contracted the virus. In addition, the World Health Organization said a 2-year-old girl in northern China had tested positive for bird flu.