Bird flu patient discharged from hospital

Mr. Zhou (2nd L. front) leaves the

Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital in Guiyang, capital of southwest

China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 6, 2009. Zhou was found infected with bird

flu on Jan. 15, he recovered from the illness after 23-day treatment and

left the hospital on Feb. 6.(Chinese media/Yang Ying)
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GUIYANG, Feb. 6 (Chinese media) -- A 29-year-old man who

contracted bird flu last month in southwest China's Guizhou Province has

recovered and was released from the hospital Friday after 22 days of treatment.

The patient, surnamed Zhou, no longer exhibits any

symptoms and has remained in stable condition for a couple of days, said Sun

Zhaolin, head of the hospital where Zhou was treated.

Zhou was hospitalized for fever on Jan. 15. Before

that, he purchased and killed a duck from a farm product market.

He began to show symptoms of acute respiratory

distress syndrome (ARDS) including coughing, phlegm and skin discoloration.

X-rays and CT scans showed he suffered rapid development of pneumonia.

The hospital started emergency treatment and

quarantined the patient before he tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian

influenza on Jan. 25.

"The disease can be prevented and cured if it is

discovered at an early stage," said Gao Zhancheng, a senior doctor of Beijing

sent by the Ministry of Health to treat Zhou.

China reported eight bird flu cases this year that

resulted in five deaths. The eight cases included a 19-year-old woman in Beijing

on Jan. 5, a 27-year-old woman in Shandong on Jan. 17, a 16-year-old male

student from Guizhou Province on Jan. 19, a 31-year-old woman in Xinjiang on

Jan. 23 and an 18-year-old man in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Jan. 26.

In addition to Zhou, a 3-year-old girl from Shanxi Province was discharged from hospital Tuesday and a 21-year-old woman in Hunan Province was in a stable condition.

MR. Zhou (with gauze mask) leaves the

Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital in Guiyang, capital of southwest

China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 6, 2009. Zhou was found infected with bird

flu on Jan. 15, he recovered from the illness after 23-day treatment and

left the hospital on Feb. 6.(Chinese media/Yang Ying)
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