A strain of bird flu that has been found in humans for the first time in eastern China is not a cause for panic, the World Health Organisation said yesterday, as the number of people infected rose to 21, with six deaths.

The WHO praised China for mobilising resources nationwide to combat the H7N9 flu strain by culling tens of thousands of birds and monitoring hundreds of people close to those infected.

“So far, we really only have sporadic cases of a rare disease, and perhaps it will remain that way. So this is not a time for overreaction or panic,” said the WHO’s representative to China, Michael O’Leary.

The head of China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission Li Bin said on Sunday she was confident authorities could contain the virus.

“These are a relatively small number of serious cases with personal health, medical implications, but not at this stage known public health implications,” O’Leary told reporters at a joint press briefing with the Chinese Government.

But he warned that information on the virus was still incomplete.

“H7N9 is a new virus in humans and the pattern that it follows cannot be predicted by the patterns that we have from other influenza viruses,” O’Leary said.

No cases have yet been reported outside of China, he said.