Hong Kong reports third H7N9 death after culling 20,000 chickens

HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong on Wednesday reported its third death from H7N9 bird flu - an elderly man who had visited mainland China - a day after authorities culled 22,000 birds to curb the disease.

The 75-year-old man had previously travelled to the neighbouring Chinese city of Shenzhen and died on Wednesday morning, a Department of Health spokesman confirmed to Agence France-Presse without elaborating.

Fears over avian flu have grown following the deaths of two men from the H7N9 strain of the virus in Hong Kong since December.

A 65-year-old man with H7N9 died on January 14 and an 80-year old man died on Boxing Day last year. Both had recently returned from mainland China.