Chicken Photo: VCG

A female resident in Ningyuan county of Yongzhou in Central China's Hunan Province was recently diagnosed with H5N6-type bird flu. All live poultry trading in the county was suspended from Sunday to prevent the further spread of the virus.

The patient, surnamed Hu, is being treated in an ICU ward of a hospital in the county. Her vital signs were stable, but she remains on a ventilator, Xinhua News agency reported.

Hu contracted the virus in a local live poultry trading market. Yongzhou's center for disease prevention and control later carried out nucleic acid tests for H5N6 on December 19, which returned positive results. 

So far, Ningyuan county has completed cleanup and disinfection in eight major markets in the county and 44 bazaars in nearby towns.

Previously, there were rumors claiming that a live poultry trading market in the county had been closed after suspected bird flu cases were found.

"The market is indeed closed at the moment, but when it will be open is still uncertain," a staff member from the county's market watchdog confirmed with the Global Times on Monday.

The market was closed from 8 am on December 19, according to a notice circulating online, which was issued by the market service center in Ningyuan as it indicates. The notice required that the sale and slaughter of live poultry in the market and surrounding stores should be stopped.

It also asked vendors to clear and disinfect their equipment and trading venues.

A staff member from Ningyuan's center for disease prevention and control told the local Chutian Metro Daily that a woman in the county contracted bird flu recently. But he didn't reveal how she was infected and whether it was related to the market.

"It requires close attention if someone is infected with bird flu, as there may be a prevalence of a certain degree, based on past cases," a Beijing-based expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times, noting that there had been reports of human infection with H7N9- or H5N1-types of bird flu in China.

Generally, bird flu can jump from poultry such as chickens and ducks to humans through respiratory infections, the expert said.

In addition, it is possible to become infected by eating virus-contaminated poultry meat, he said, but thorough cooking can kill the bird flu virus and reduce the risk of infection.