The Health Ministry says a woman in eastern China has died and a two-year-old girl is critically ill after becoming infected with bird flu.

A 27-year-old woman, identified as Zhang from Jinan, capital of Shandong province, died on Saturday. The two-year-old girl, surnamed Peng, was found ill on January 7 in central Hunan province and later diagnosed with bird flu at a hospital in her home province of Shanxi on Saturday.

China has confirmed three human cases of the H5N1 virus in less than two weeks. The new cases are emerging after almost a year of no reports of human infections.

(CCTV January 21, 2009)