Dead bird in Hong Kong tests positive for H5N1 bird flu

A dead wild bird found near a Hong Kong nature reserve last week has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu, the government said Friday.

Scientists confirmed the diagnosis on the Oriental magpie robin after several tests, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said in a statement.

Occasional H5N1 cases in wild birds are common in Hong Kong — there were 21 last year — but the territory has not suffered a major outbreak of the disease since the virus killed six people in 1997.

That outbreak prompted the government to slaughter the territory's entire poultry population of about 1.5 million birds.

The H5N1 virus has scientists concerned because it has the potential to infect humans. At least 235 people have died of bird flu worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

Most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds, but health experts worry the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily among humans, sparking a pandemic that some say could kill millions of people and overload health care systems.