'The woman fell ill on Dec 24, was hospitalised on Dec 27 and died on Monday (at) 7.20am,' the bureau said in a faxed statement.

Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection said the woman had had contact with poultry before the onset of symptoms. China's official Xinhua News Agency earlier reported the woman had bought nine ducks at a market in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing.

Since the H5N1 virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003, it has killed more than 200 people in a dozen countries, according to the World Health Organisation.

Experts fear the constantly mutating virus could change into a form easily transmitted from person to person and potentially kill millions of people worldwide.

The last known reported fatality in China was in February last year when a 44-year-old woman died in the southern province of Guangdong.

A five-year-old has been infected with bird flu in neighbouring Vietnam, the first human case reported in the country this year, Vietnam's state-run television said on Tuesday. -- REUTERS

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