Thursday the official Xinhua news agency denied any human infections with H5N1 bird flu in the region. No unexplained pneumonia or flu among people who had contact with birds that carried H5N1 has been reported, it says.
The report comes from the Newscientist. The article also discusses the source of the original story, a web-based Chinese-language news service called Boxun:
The media reports are said to have come from nine correspondents in Qinhai, who report that people connected to the cases have been forbidden to talk to outsiders. Boxun cautions that the reports cannot be independently verified, but says it hopes by drawing attention to them they can be further investigated.
The blogoshpere is unimpressed with the Chinese government's denial, demanding more detailed information.
