Bird flu kills one, infects 5 in Pakistan

One person died in Pakistan from the bird flu, reports Reuters. The nation's Health Ministry said on Saturday that at least five other people were infected with the deadly H5N1 virus.

Health officials said they were investigating a potential second fatality caused by the virus. The cases were reported in October in the North West FrontierProvince.

According to a statement released by the Health Ministry, at least six people were infected with H5N1. Five have fully recovered. The statement also said one man has died, and his brother, who was not tested for H5N1, has also died.

Reuters reports this is the first time Pakistan has reported H5N1 in humans. It has previously reported the virus in poultry, with the first case in 2006.

Health officials told Reuters no other cases--human or poultry--have been detected in the past two years. A World Health Organization team will arrive in Pakistan in the next few days.

Though H5N1 is a strain that is difficult to infect humans, health experts fear a mutated strain could cause a global pandemic and kill millions.

A WHO spokesperson told Reuters that as many as eight people in Pakinstan's North West Frontier Province were possible infected. The single confirmed death was a man who worked in a poultry culler. Two of his brothers were also infected, one of whom died. It is unknown if the second death was caused by caring for his brother or by exposure to poultry.

The WHO was expected to give more details on Saturday, reports Reuters.