China bird-flu toll reaches 10

Chinese authorities said Thursday that a 10th person has died from the new strain of bird flu detected last month in the Shanghai region.

The number of confirmed human infections rose to 38 with the discovery of nine new cases in Shanghai.

Of the 28 infected people who are still alive, only one, a boy of 4, has made a full recovery, the official Xinhua news agency said.

All of the confirmed cases have been in the eastern provinces of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.

None of those who were in contact with the infected people are showing any symptoms and there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission of the illness, China's National Commission of Health and Family Planning said.

Authorities in eastern China have slaughtered thousands of birds in a bid to stop the spread of the new flu strain.