We all know of the first bird flu death in Shanghai a week ago, in addition to the stepped-up efforts of the local government to prevent any kind of spread. Now, Jiao Yang, spokesperson for the Shanghai government just reassured us in this Xinhua report (in Chinese) that “new cases of infected human or bird are not detected yet in the city.” But he also pointed out it’s difficult to control and prevent the spread of the disease in Shanghai because of the dense population and high traffic in and out of the city. Therefore, the government has taken five measures to prevent and control the disease. They include:

1. Immunity and disinfection. Shanghai has started mandatory immunity system at all families in order to cut out the infected source. Did anyone know this? Are we the only ones left out?
2. Enhance monitoring of the epidemic, provide daily report on all the birds inside the city, imported birds and migratory birds. There are 14 migratory bird observation stations in Shanghai.
3. Strict road control. Eight specified crossings are under 24-hour supervision.
4. Regulate the trade of live birds in the city. Bird markets must be closed at specific times and make further disinfection efforts.
5. All parties should work together to fight this epidemic.

That last one is our favorite. (Buy stock in Tamiflu.)

Since Shanghai's first human bird flu death was confirmed on Saturday, the city has "stepped up measures" to prevent the spread of the disease among people (which still hasn't been proven possible):

The city's health department has set up 160 monitoring stations at the fever clinics, where all the fever patients were required to receive treatment.

In addition, all the hospitals were ordered to take measures, such as isolating suspicious human cases and strengthening disinfection, and to give medical workers training on the fatal disease.

Booklets detailing preventative measures have also been handed out to the citizens.

Here's our favorite part (italics added by Shanghaiist):

"There's no need to panic, but it's necessary to pay close attention to personal hygiene and try to avoid crowded places," said Zhang Yongxin, a professor with the Huashan Hospital under the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai.

So, residents of this city of 20 million people, don't panic -- just make sure to stay away from places where there might be lots of people. Sounds easy enough.

Many news sources are reporting what could be the first bird flu death in Shanghai. Ms. Li, a 29-year-old migrant worker, "died of pneumonia of unknown causes." The news was first reported on state TV Thursday night. You can watch the report here.

In a well-timed story, Xinhua today is reporting that "H5N1 virus prefers to settle in cells deep within the lungs, rather than in the upper respiratory tract, as happens with human flu strains, two new studies have found. That may help explain why human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus has so far not happened -- and might not happen in the future."

No word yet on when the Rolling Stones will announce the cancellation of their April gig in Shanghai.