Pig flu claims its first victims

The death toll from infection with a bacteria commonly found in pigs has reportedly risen to at least 24, with 21 people in critical condition and nearly 40 new cases in south western China's Sichuan province.

Officials have reported 76 confirmed and 41 suspected infections with the bacteria, the official China Daily newspaper said. Government scientists confirmed the deaths over the past month were caused by streptococcus suis bacteria transmitted from slaughtered animals to people, the health ministry said. The cases are scattered across 75 villages in four districts of Sichuan's Ziyang and Neijiang cities.

Doctors are using heavy doses of antibiotics to treat infected patients, but the growing death toll shows the approach is "unsatisfactory", the newspaper said. "The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting drug sensitivity tests to find a more effective treatment," it quoted health ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an as saying.

The streptococcus suis bacteria is commonly found in pigs worldwide, but human infections are relatively rare. The disease has a latency period of two to three days. Symptoms included high fever, nausea and bleeding from blood vessels beneath the skin, reports said. About half of those infected also experience severe shock, and the death rate from the disease appears to be at least 25%, based on the cases so far reported.