New strain of bird flu which has never been seen in humans before kills two people in China

Victims were infected in Shanghai and were aged 87 and 27
Third person is critically ill in hospital after contracting virus in nearby province
By Daily Mail Reporter

Two people in China have died from a strain of the bird flu virus never previously passed to humans.

The victims, two men aged 87 and 27, became sick in Shanghai, one of the country's largest cities, in late February and died earlier this month.

Another woman in nearby Anhui province also contracted the virus in March and is in a critical condition.

Deadly: A new strain of avian flu has killed two people in China. The disease spreads easily among birds and is prevalent in south east Asia but Britain was hit by an outbreak in 2007

Worry: The two victims were infected in the city of Shanghai, one of the biggest in China

The strain of the bird flu virus found in all three people was identified as H7N9, which had not been transmitted to humans before, according the Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The victims showed symptoms of fever and coughs that later developed into pneumonia.

It is still unclear they were infected.

The World Health Organization says it is 'closely monitoring the situation' in China, regional agency spokesman Timothy O'Leary said in Manila, Philippines, and said the latest strain was not contagious.

'There is apparently no evidence of human-to-human transmission, and transmission of the virus appears to be inefficient, therefore the risk to public health would appear to be low," O'Leary said.

While WHO is confident the latest strain will not easily spread - no symptoms have been reported in any people who had been in contact with the victims - the deaths will reignite fears over the disease.

The most common strain of bird flu, H5N1, found mainly in south east Asia, is highly contagious among birds and can spread to humans.

Tens of millions of birds have been culled to stop the spread, which has been brought under control by animal vaccination programmes.

The World Health Organisation says there have been 566 confirmed human cases of H5N1 since 2003 and 322 deaths.

Governments around the world are pumping millions of pounds into developing vaccines in the scenario of a pandemic.