MOSCOW, March 10 (Xinhuanet) -- An Azerbaijani young man suspected of contracting avian influenza died in hospital on Friday, the Health Ministry in the Caspian Sea nation said.

    The boy, 16, who was admitted to hospital several days ago for possible infection with the bird flu virus, died of bilateral pneumonia and pulmonary insufficiency, but his final diagnosis will be established after testing of samples sent to a laboratory in Britain, the ministry said, Russian news agencies reported.

    The young man is the country's fourth resident to have died of suspected bird flu over the past two weeks in the Salyan district, 130 km south of the capital Baku. Previously, two 17-year-old girls and a 20-year-old woman had died.

    The highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza was discovered in Azerbaijan last month in wild birds on the Caspian Sea coast. The country announced detection of infection in poultry farms on Feb. 24.

    A team of experts from the World Health Organization is currently in Azerbaijan to provide technical support in fighting bird flu.

    A total of 176 people have been confirmed to be infected by the bird flu virus since 2003 and 97 have died, mostly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization.

    Although H5N1 has remained primarily a bird disease, scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that could easily spread among humans, triggering a pandemic. Enditem