Shanghai confirms new human case of H7N9 bird flu - Xinhua

A vendor waits for customers near chicken cages at a market in Fuyang city, in central China's Anhui province. Two Shanghai men have died from a lesser-known type of bird flu in the first known human deaths from the strain. (AP2013)

BEIJING – Shanghai's health authority has confirmed a new human case of infection by the H7N9 strain of avian influenza, the state-owned news agency Xinhua said on Friday.

The man diagnosed with H7N9 bird flu is being treated in a hospital, Xinhua reported.

Shanghai has already reported one human case of H7N9 infection this month.

Shanghai is China's largest city by population with more than 24 million residents.

Bird flu is most likely to strike in winter and spring and farmers have in recent years increased cleaning regimes, animal detention techniques, and built roofs to cover hen pens, among other steps, to prevent the disease.