A 29-year-old man who contracted bird flu last month in southwest China's Guizhou Province is in stable condition, doctors said on Monday.

The patient surnamed Zhou was hospitalized for fever on January 15 and was confirmed to be infected with bird flu on January 24. After 18 days of treatment, he was now in stable condition, said Sun Zhaolin, head of Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital.

Zhou bought and killed a duck before falling ill. The hospital started emergency treatment and quarantined the patient even before he tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, Sun said.

"The hospital treated him under the guidance of experts from the Ministry of Health. Zhou is now out of danger and is not infectious. We are continuing to observe the patient."

Hunan has launched an emergency response against the virus. Those who had close contact with the patient are under medical observation, but so far, there have been no reports of illnesses.

China has reported eight bird flu cases of H5N1 since January. Five patients have died.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2009)