GENEVA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO)confirmed on Tuesday that up to now there had been seven human infection cases of H5N1 bird flu in Azerbaijan.

    Samples from 11 Azerbaijan patients under investigation for possible H5N1 infection have been tested at a WHO collaborating laboratory in Britain, and positive H5N1 results were obtained forseven of these patients, WHO said in a bulletin posted on its website.

    It added that five of the cases were fatal.

    Last week, WHO strengthened its field team in Azerbaijan to include experts in clinical management and infection control and additional senior epidemiologists.

    WHO also revealed on Tuesday that the total number of human cases of H5N1 in 2006 have reached 40, among them 27 deaths.

    The cumulative number of human cases since 2003 have increased to 184, including 103 deaths. Enditem