Health authorities have confirmed that a 19-year-old woman died on Monday from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

The patient's relatives and friends are very sad.

The patient fell ill with the virus on December 24th. She bought nine ducks at a market in Langfang City in Hebei Province and possibly contracted the virus while cleaning the ducks' internal organs. She was admitted to the hospital three days later after her condition deteriorated.

Beijing authorities are carrying out bird flu prevention and control measures, including closely monitoring people who had close contact with the woman. An initial investigation has shown that of 13 people who ate the ducks, she was the only person to fall ill.