An 18-year-old man died from bird flu on Monday in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the fifth human death from the H5N1 virus in China this year.

According to a press release posted on the website of the Ministry of Health, the man surnamed Liang fell ill on Jan. 19 in Beiliu City of Guangxi.

Liang was transferred to Yulin Municipal Red Cross Hospital on Jan. 24. He died on Monday.

The young man tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, according to the test result on Monday from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Guangxi has launched an emergency response against the virus. Those who had close contact with the patient are under medical observation. No one has been found ill so far.

The ministry said it had reported the case to the World Health Organization and informed the health authorities of China's Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Previously, China had reported six human bird flu cases this year, including four deaths. The first death was a 19-year-old woman in Beijing on Jan. 5, followed by a 27-year-old woman in Shandong on Jan. 17, a 16-year-old boy in Hunan on Jan. 20, a 31-year-old woman in Xinjiang on Jan. 23.

A 2-year-old girl in north China's Shanxi Province who was critically ill with the disease was out of danger Friday after her vital signs remained stable for six consecutive days.

A 29-year-old man who had been confirmed as infected with bird flu in southwest China's Guizhou Province on Sunday was in stable condition, local health authorities in the provincial capital said Monday.

None of the 125 people who had close contact with the patient have been found to be ill so far, an official with the provincial health bureau said.

Shandong and Shanxi ended the emergency response to bird flu on Saturday and Sunday separately.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2009)