MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Chinese authorities confirmed five more human cases of H7N9 avian influenza over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 87, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
China has already confirmed that 17 human cases of H7N9 avian influenza proved fatal since announcing late last month that it had detected the strain in people for the first time.
As the number of cases continues to rise, the government on Thursday ordered the suspension of all sales of wild birds. It also ordered local authorities to beef up epidemic surveillance and to ban close contacts between humans and animals in zoos.
The World Health Organization has said there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the flu.
There is currently no vaccine against the virus.
