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The second of two people confirmed by the Ministry of Health to have contracted avian influenza H5N1 died in a hospital in southwest China's Guizhou province on Friday, according to health authorities.

The patient, a 31-year-old man, died of multiple organ failure at Jinyang Hospital in Guizhou, the provincial capital, at 4:40 p.m., sources with the provincial health department said.

The man developed symptoms on Feb. 3 and was hospitalized on Feb. 8.

Another patient, a 21-year-old woman, died of multiple organ failure on Feb. 13. They both tested positive for the H5N1 virus on Feb. 17.

The two patients both had close contact with birds, sources said.

A total of 110 people who had close contact with the patients have been released from quarantine, as no abnormal symptoms were discovered.

No new avian influenza H5N1 cases have been reported, sources said.

The human-transmissible form of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, is an acute respiratory infectious disease mainly caused by the deadly H5N1 virus subtype. Main symptoms include high fever and pneumonia.

Human cases of bird flu are usually caused by transmission from poultry to humans.