A two-year-old girl who was confirmed Saturday to be infected with bird flu in north China's Shanxi Province is still in critical condition, local health authorities said Monday.

The girl surnamed Peng is being treated at the Fourth People's Hospital in the provincial capital of Taiyuan. "The patient is in critical condition, but her vital signs are normal," said a Shanxi Provincial Health Department spokesman.

The 67 people who had close contact with the girl had been under observation, but none were found infected, a department official said.

The department has set up a task force to coordinate bird flu prevention and control efforts after the case was confirmed.

Peng fell ill on Jan. 7 in the central Hunan Province. Her grandparents took her to Shanxi's Luliang City on Jan. 11. The Ministry of Agriculture said Sunday that no bird flu outbreaks were detected in Shanxi and Hunan.

Two people have died from avian influenza in China so far this year: a 19-year-old woman in Beijing on Jan. 5 and a 27-year-old woman in Shandong Province on Jan. 17.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2009)