China says bird flu killed woman in Shanghai

SHANGHAI Mar 24 (Reuters) China's Health Ministry confirmed today that a 29-year-old woman in Shanghai had died of bird flu, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The woman, surnamed Li, was a migrant worker who was initially said to have died of ''pneumonia of unknown cause.'' The city government said it suspected bird flu yeasterday.

The latest death is the first known case in Shanghai and brings to 16 the number of human bird flu cases and to 11 the number of deaths that have been confirmed in China.

Epidemiologists fear that bird flu could mutate to a form where it could pass easily among humans, potentially triggering a pandemic in which millions could die.

The Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that Li tested positive for H5N1, Xinhua said.

Reuters SI DB2044