A case of human to human transmission of the virus H5N1 has been confirmed by China health officials.

Researchers said that a 52 year old father was infected by his 24 year old son with the virus. The father survived but the son died

The Egyptian government reported the country's 21st death from the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu on Saturday. The man died in the northern Delta region, the North African nation's health ministry said.

Mohamed Idris, from Baheira, had been at a hospital in Egypt's second largest city Alexandria with reported respiratory problems and a high fever. He did not respond to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, Deputy Minister Nasr Al Sayed told the official government news agency MENA

An Indonesian girl and boy were the latest victims of bird flu virus in Indonesia, with the death toll rising to 107 people, the highest in the world, the health ministry of Indonesia said Monday.

According to ministry official Lily Sulistyowati, the latest victims were a 15-year-old teenage boy and a 12-year-old girl who died last week in separate areas in Indonesia, suburbs of Jakarta

Ducks, rice and people - and not chickens - have emerged as the most significant factors in the spread of avian influenza in Thailand and Vietnam, according to a new study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"Mapping H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza risk in Southeast Asia: ducks, rice and people" also finds that these factors are probably behind persistent outbreaks in other countries such as Cambodia and Laos

Despite major efforts to control the avian influenza in Indonesia, the country worst hit by the virus, the situation there remains "grave," the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Tuesday. The bird flu has become "deeply entrenched" in Indonesia, effecting 31 out of 33 provinces according to United Nations estimates.

The virus is endemic in Java, Sumatra, Bali and southern Sulawesi with sporadic outbreaks reported from other areas. In February, five people living in the west of Java, Indonesia's most populous island, died after contracting the H5N1 virus, responsible for outbreaks of bird flu around the world in recent years