SHANGHAI, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Chinese health authorities reported the deaths of two men, including a doctor, from H7N9 avian flu in Shanghai.
The Shanghai municipal health commission Monday reported the 31-year-old doctor and a 77-year-old farmer died this past weekend.
The Shanghai Daily.com said the physician was an emergency doctor, who was originally reported to have died of pneumonia and respiratory failure Saturday after having had a fever for about a week. He had, however, continued working, the report said. He is survived by his pregnant wife.
Xinhua News Agency reported both men tested positive for the H7N9 virus posthumously Sunday.
In the case of the doctor, Xinhua quoted the Shanghai health commission as saying none of the people who had close contacts with him, including his colleagues and his patients, have shown any flu symptoms such as fever and coughing.
The report said the doctor had no close contacts with flu patients during the 10 days before he became ill.
Details about the death of the 77-year-old man were not immediately available.
Xinhua said Shanghai has confirmed seven human H7N9 cases so far this year.
Zhejiang, a province located south of Shanghai, also reported six more cases of H7N9 avian flu last weekend, bringing the total number of cases so far this year to 26.
China has reported more than 200 human cases of H7N9 since March, China Daily reported.
