The death of a Chinese girl in a village where a bird flu outbreak had been reported was caused by severe pneumonia, local health authority cited initial medical tests as saying Thursday.

The latest tests on the girl's blood sample turned out negative for the avian influenza virus, according to the provincial center for disease prevention and control.

Twelve-year-old He Yin felt sick after eating with her brother smoke-dried chicken that died from bird flu and was sent to the Provincial Children's Hospital on Oct. 16. She died the next day.

The girl was a native of Wantang Village, in Xiangtan County of central China's Hunan Province, where the latest outbreak of avian influenza was reported several days ago.

Doctors with the hospital said He died of pneumonia with acute respiratory distress syndrome and heart failure.

The girl's younger brother also felt sick on Oct. 17 and the hospital diagnosed his illness with symptoms of fever and cough as bronchial pneumonia.

Blood tests on the nine-year-old boy and his mother also were negative for the bird flu virus, the disease prevention and control center said.

The boy's temperature has been normal for seven consecutive days and his physical situation is stable.

Officials with the provincial health department said experts from the Ministry of Health arrived in Hunan Thursday to further diagnose the cases and are expected to offer a final report on Friday.

There has been concern that the girl was killed by the bird flu, which might trigger the spread of the virus in human beings.

The ministry has confirmed that the latest outbreak in Wantang village was identified as the deadly H5N1 avian influenza.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2005)