A man died because of the H5N1 virus last week in southern China, the number of deaths rising to nine in the country. Lao, a 32-year-old man, died in the Guangdong province, situated at the border with Hong Kong, being the 15th case of bird flu infection. Previously, 14 cases of infection have been reported, among which eight people died, two are currently under treatment and four have been released from the hospital. The man developed fever and pneumonia on February 22 and died on March 2. Lao visited several times a local market in order to conduct a survey and came in contact with chickens that were slaughtered. The man's girlfriend is also sick but shows no symptoms of bird flu infection. People around Lao have been put under strict medical observation and they show no signs of suspicious symptoms so far. Tests on Lao came out positive, confirming the bird flu infection. Since 2003, at least 94 people were killed by the H5N1 virus in East Asia and the Middle East. China has reported 30 outbreaks across the country only in the past year. Hong Kong has decided to suspend imports of live poultry, chicks and pet birds from Guangdong for three weeks. A country with many bird flu deaths this year is Indonesia, also with 9 cases. About 66% of the birds here are infected with the deadly strain.