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China has new bird-flu cases; death toll 6

SHANGHAI, April 8 (UPI) -- Chinese officials said the number of confirmed cases of H7N9 bird flu rose to 21, with three more diagnoses during the weekend. The death toll stood at six.

In the newest cases, a 55-year-old man from Anhui province in eastern China and two men, ages 67 and 59, in Shanghai were confirmed to have the disease, Xinhua reported Monday.

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Four of the six people who have died from the virus were in Shanghai, where 10 cases were reported.

About 194 Shanghai residents who had close contact with the infected patients were placed under medical observation, authorities said.

Shanghai's Agricultural Commission said authorities ordered the slaughter of 98,000 fowls and incinerated the poultry to prevent spread of the disease

Beijing officials banned the sale of live poultry outside the approved marketplace and the unlicensed butchering of poultry.

No H7N9 cases had been reported in the capital city.

The government of Guangdong province earmarked an initial $4.76 million to prevent and control the avian flu and for treatment of low-income people who become infected.

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