China to develop vaccine for new bird flu
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Beijing - China is to start developing a vaccine for the H7N9 strain of bird flu, which has killed nine people since March in and around Shanghai, a news report said Thursday.
Work was to start this week on the vaccine, which was to be ready within seven months, news agency Xinhua reported.
The new strain has had a relatively high fatality rate of nearly 30 per cent of the 33 reported cases so far, all in the same region.
Chinese authorities and the World Health Organization have played down fears of an epidemic, saying there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
Shanghai culled chickens and other fowl at markets in the city last week after the virus was found in pigeons nearby.//DPA
