China is conducting lab tests to confirm whether a man died of bird flu in 2003, the Ministry of Health said on Monday.

A letter published by eight Chinese scientists in a June 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine said that the bird flu virus was isolated in a 24-year-old man who died in Beijing in 2003.

The ministry has made contact with the eight scientists, said Mao Qun'an, spokesman of the ministry.

"In accordance with World Health Organization and China's diagnostic standards for human avian influenza, parallel laboratory tests are needed for further confirmation," Mao said.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting the tests, and the ministry will keep the WHO updated, added Mao.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2006)