China's Ministry of Health last night confirmed one more human case of bird flu, the sixth in the country.

The patient, surnamed Guo, is a 35-year-old peddler in Suichuan County of Jiangxi Province in east China. The man, who fell ill on December 4 with fever and symptom of pneumonia, is being treated in a local hospital, the ministry said.

The China Disease Prevention and Control Centre tested the samples of Guo and found he was infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus.

The Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed new bird flu outbreak in the village Guo lives.

Local health authorities have taken measures to check the spread of the virus and the people who had close contact with the patient are under strict medical observation, with no abnormal clinical symptoms found.

Earlier last night, the Ministry of Agriculture said a new bird flu case had been confirmed in Guo's village after the death of 1,640 ducks raised by a fellow villager.

The provincial veterinarian department suspected the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic bird flu was the killer and a state avian flu lab confirmed the suspicion yesterday, the ministry said.

Veterinarian authorities in Jiangxi have culled 15,000 poultry within three kilometres of the affected area as soon as the outbreak was reported.

Despite the incident, China's poultry-dependent businesses that suffered as a result of the epidemic can breathe a sigh of relief, as taxation authorities yesterday confirmed tax and fee cuts will be offered to help them weather the strait.

To help cope with the epidemic nationwide, the State Administration of Taxation said poultry-processing and marketing businesses will be exempted from the 2005 corporate tax.

They will also get value-added tax rebates and breaks on land use, real estate and vehicle taxes in eight months since November 1, the agency said in a statement.

The compensation funds for enterprises and individuals who culled birds for epidemic control will also be exempted from taxes, it added.

The offer echoed a mid-November decision of the State Council on supporting development of poultry industry when avian influenza was taking heavy toll among foul sector.

Before yesterday's fresh infection, bird flu had already killed 151,200 birds in China's 11 provinces and regions. Another 22 million were destroyed to stop the spread of outbreaks, the Ministry of Agriculture reported.

Jia Youling, chief veterinarian and spokesperson for bird flu control at the Ministry of Agriculture, conceded on Wednesday that bird flu had dealt a heavy blow to the industry.

In addition to nudging down farmers' income, bird flu contagion also affected related industries such as feed and food processing.

Experts look to the situation in 2004, when China registered 50 outbreaks in 16 provinces and regions, and say as long as epidemic was stamped out, domestic poultry industry would rebound to rapid development.

(China Daily December 16, 2005)