The World Health Organisation (WHO) has today denied exaggerating the risk of a human influenza pandemic, while China reported a tenth person had been diagnosed with the potentially fatal bird flu virus.
A 29-year-old woman from southwest China was diagnosed with the H5N1 virus and was in critical condition in hospital. The woman ran a shop in a farm goods market in Jinhua Town in Sichuan Province.
Six of the ten known victims of bird flu in China have died.
The WHO has confirmed bird flu as the cause of death of a young brother and sister in Indonesia this month, taking the death toll to at least 82 since the virus re-emerged in late 2003.
WHO director-general Lee Jong-Wook said the threat of a pandemic was genuine.
"Concern has been expressed that we are overplaying this threat. We are not," Mr Lee said in an opening speech to the WHO's executive board, holding a week-long meeting in Geneva.
"We can only reduce the devastating human and economic impact of a pandemic if we all take the threat seriously now and prepare thoroughly. This is a global problem," he said.
The United Nations agency has predicted between two and 7.4 million people could die if a pandemic sweeps the world.