China: No evidence of mutated H5N1 virus

The latest human case of bird flu in China, involves a 52-year-old father, who contracted the disease from his son. The son died last month but the father has since recovered.

China's health authorities confirmed Thursday the case provides no evidence that the virus has mutated into a form which can be easily passed between humans.

Mao Qun'an, spokesman of Ministry of Health,said, "It has no biological features for human-to-human transmission. This case does not exactly fit the profile of an infectious human-to-human outbreak, and it has remained something of a puzzle."

Both men lived in China's eastern province of Jiangsu. It remains unclear how the son was infected in the first place, as neither of the two had any known contact with dead poultry. This case bring the number of confirmed human infections of bird flu in China to 27 since 2003.17 of these people have died.

China's Ministry of Agriculture said early last month there is a high possibility of regional bird flu outbreaks in winter and spring. Authorities say they are taking precautions and enhancing supervision in key areas.