A Chinese woman has been detained for allegedly spreading rumours of a deadly bird flu outbreak, causing widespread panic in China's central Hubei Province.
A post went viral on China's biggest social network, WeChat, saying an outbreak of H7N9 human infection had attacked eight medical workers and some family members after a villager in the suburbs of Xiantao City was infected with bird flu.
The post caused widespread panic and police launched an investigation, only to find it was sheer fabrication, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
A woman, surnamed Chen, surrendered herself to police on Thursday night, saying she had fabricated the rumour and spread it on the social networking website.
She has been put in detention for five days starting yesterday.
China has stepped up prevention of human H7N9 avian flu which has led to 87 deaths nationwide since January.
In addition, 269 H7N9 human infections have been reported in China this year.
The latest case was reported in China's southwestern Guizhou Province yesterday. The patient, 45, was from Danzhai County in Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of Qiandongnan.
All close contacts were under clinical observation and no signs of infection have been detected so far, the provincial health and family planning commission said.
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