The man, surnamed Chen, died on Saturday in Shenzhen — a boomtown that borders Hong Kong where thousands of chickens have already been culled after three birds tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus in mid-December.
Chen is China’s first reported human case of the deadly disease in 18 months.
“The virus cannot spread among people” and “there is no need for Shenzhen citizens to panic,” Xinhua said, citing a statement from the centre.
The 39-year-old had apparently had no direct contact with poultry in the month before he was taken ill, nor had he left the city, the department said.
The H5N1 virus is fatal in humans in about 60 percent of cases.
China is considered one of the nations most at risk of bird flu epidemics because it has the world’s biggest poultry population and many chickens in rural areas are kept close to humans