Chinese school closes after mystery flu kills one student

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2006

BEIJING (AFP) — A high school in northern China has been shut down after a mystery virus killed one student and left dozens hospitalized with high fevers.

Authorities have determined that the outbreak in Shaanxi province is not bird flu or the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) but are still trying to identify the virus, a local health official told AFP.

"So far we have ruled out the disease being Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and the bird flu," said the official from the Qishan county health bureau which has jurisdiction over the area where the school is located.

"But we have still not identified the virus."

He said officials from China's Center for Disease Control in Beijing had arrived in the county to investigate.

The virus was...