A human case of H7N9 was reported in East China's Zhejiang Province on Sunday and Shanghai reported a human case of H7N9 on Saturday.

The patient is a 34-year-old woman surnamed Cai, who is from the city of Zhuji, the provincial health and family planning commission said.

She was confirmed to be infected with the bird flu virus on Saturday. By 1 pm on Sunday, she was still in critical condition at a local hospital, the statement said.

The patient in Shanghai is an 86-year-old local surnamed Zhou. He was confirmed to be infected with the bird flu virus on Friday. The patient is receiving treatment at a local hospital, the city's health and family planning commission said.

In the meantime, samples of goose meat taken from a Guangzhou market in South China's Guangdong Province have tested positive for H7N9 avian influenza.

Two goose meat samples and one sewage water sample from two poultry booths in a wet market in Zengcheng, a satellite city of Guangzhou, tested positive, the Guangdong Provincial Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) confirmed on Sunday.

"It's serious that the water sample test is positive, because it means all the birds inside coops have the possibility of being infected with H7N9 avian influenza. The longer they stay in the coops, the risk of being infected rises," said Yang Zhicong, deputy chief of the Guangzhou CDCP. The city government of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, is tracking the poultry source. The market was shut down on Saturday for three days.

Meanwhile, 17 salespeople working in nine poultry booths in the market are undergoing a week-long medical observation. So far, they have shown no signs of being infected with the bird flu, said Yang.

Six human cases of H7N9 bird flu have been confirmed in Guangdong Province since August.

The Chinese mainland has reported more than 140 human cases of the deadly virus since it emerged in March, including 45 fatalities.

Xinhua