Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    ONE Shenzhen resident died Tuesday from the deadly H7N9 strain of bird flu, while one more has been infected, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Shenzhen since December to 10, the municipal health authority confirmed Thursday.

    The victim, surnamed Chen, died Tuesday after medical treatment became ineffective. He was the sixth confirmed case and the first H7N9 patient that has lost his life this winter in Shenzhen. No more details about him were given.

    The newly infected man, surnamed Luo, is in critical condition. Luo, a 77-year-old retired teacher living in Luohu District, went to a wet market, but reportedly had no contact with live poultry, according to the health authority.

    He started feeling unwell Jan. 27 and visited a nearby hospital for treatment. He was confirmed to have been infected with the H7N9 virus Tuesday.

    Shenzhen has reported 10 H7N9 cases this winter and three of the patients have been released from the hospital. The number of newly confirmed H7N9 cases in the city and its total number of H7N9 cases since 2013 are the highest in the province, the city’s health authority said.

    City regulators extended a 10-day ban on live poultry sales Saturday, but live poultry sales are continuing to take place in Shenzhen. The market supervision bureau of Longhua New Area on Wesdnesday fined a live poultry seller at a wet market in the Minzhi area 23,000 yuan (US$3,740) for illegally selling live poultry. It was the first penalty of its kind since a Guangdong regulation on live poultry operations took effect in January.

    The seller was operating a converted stall, which measured about 60 square meters that stocked more than 80 live chickens and ducks.

    Only 145 stalls in Longhua’s 48 markets have permission to sell live poutry at the time being. The city’s market supervision commission told Shenzhen Daily on Thursday that the total number of legal live poultry stalls in the city is not available.

    Market regulators encourage residents to call 12315 to report any illegal live poultry stalls.

    Guangdong has reported 33 H7N9 cases so far, according to the provincial health department.