Third bird flu death in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong government has announced a third death from the new strain of influenza known as bird flu but an international expert who is helping investigations says there is no reason to panic.

The latest victim is a thirteen-year-old girl who died in a hospital intensive care unit.

So far eight people have been diagnosed as having caught the new virus The Director of the World Health Organisation's influenza programme, Daniel Lavanchy, who is in Hong Kong, says there is no risk to public health from bird flu, even though a vaccine cannot be ready before the middle of next year at the earliest.

The new virus, H5N1, is believed to have originated in poultry

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service