Photos of 10 dead sparrows on a Chinese pavement which went viral on social media and drew a swift official response show how hard covering up a bird flu outbreak would be in the Internet age. China has won international praise for its transparency on the H7N9 strain, which has killed 14 people so far, in sharp contrast to criticism for trying to conceal the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese capital reported its first case of a new strain of bird flu on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua said, the first time it has been found in a human outside eastern China. The seven-year-old girl was in stable condition in a Beijing hospital, the report said. Two people who have had close contact with the child had shown no signs of being infected, Xinhua added. The girl's parents worked in the live poultry trade, it said.

Experts have praised China for its increased transparency in handling public health incidents, after the emergence of the lesser-known H7N9 bird flu, which has killed six people since the deadly strain was exposed a week ago. The Chinese government has been credited with timely releases of information about the H7N9 bird flu, whereas in 2003, authorities were criticized for initially trying to cover up an epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which claimed the lives of several hundred people on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. "China has learned a less

Singapore's health ministry on Saturday issued an advisory for travellers returning from China's bird flu-hit provinces to look out for certain symptoms, though it fell short of advising against travelling to these provinces. The ministry said that travellers who have gone to Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang should look out for symptoms of respiratory illness, such as fever and cough. They are advised to seek early medical attention if ill with such symptoms and inform doctors of their travel history.