The Ministry of Health confirmed Thursday that an eight-year girl in southwest China's Sichuan Province had been infected with H5N1 bird flu.

The girl, surnamed Sun, from Tangjia Township in Suining City of Sichuan Province, showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on April 16. She is being treated in a local hospital, according to the ministry.

Investigators report that poultry deaths occurred in the girl's home before she was infected.

Samples of the girl's lower respiratory tract tested positive for the H5 avian flu sub-type by the Sichuan provincial center for disease control and prevention (CDC).

China's national CDC confirmed the test result to be the H5N1 strain of bird flu on Thursday.

The patient has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) regulations and Chinese official standards, said the ministry.

Governments and health departments at all levels in Sichuan Province took immediate prevention and control measures after the case was confirmed.

People who were in close contact with the patient have been put under medical observation by local health authorities. So far none has shown any symptoms.

The ministry has reported the new case to the WHO and the regions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as several other countries.

This latest confirmation brought the total number of human cases of bird flu in China to 18. Twelve of them have died.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2006)