The National Health and Family Planning Commission says the two men were aged 87 and 27. They got sick in late February and died in early March. The commission says the three victims had no contact with each other, but all had a strain of the bird flu virus that had not been transmitted to humans before.

But why did it take so long to confirm the cause of death? The commission says because the virus is the latest subtype of H7N9 bird flu to be found around the world, it isn't included in China's virus monitoring system. And one Shanghai scientist says confirming the strain of virus is a slow process.

Prof. Jiang Qingwu, Shanghai Fudan University, said:"We need to check every gene of each nucleotide of the virus. And it takes a great amount of time from checking to confirmation. "

Authorities don't yet know how the three were infected, and none of the 88 people who had close contact with them has developed the infection. One Shanghai doctor says this is not a cause for alarm.

Dr. Zhu Xuemei, Shanghai Ruijin Hospital, said:"There is no evidence showing that domestic fowl can pass the virus on to humans. So there should be no panic. Such flu has been actually found in fowls. "

But experts advise people to see a doctor as soon as they catch a cold. Many hospitals in Shanghai say they will keep a closer eye on their outpatient and emergency services, as well as in hospital wards. So far, there is no vaccine against the H7N9 virus.

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