China reported its second bird flu fatality in less than a month Sunday, following the deaths of one person in Vietnam and a toddler in Cambodia.

Officials say the latest patient died Sunday in southwestern Guizhou province, after being hospitalized on January 6. The 39-year-old man reported having no direct contact with poultry.

In late December, a bus driver died from bird flu in the southern province of Guangdong.

The virus usually only infects humans who come into direct contact with diseased birds.

Some scientists fear H5N1 could mutate into a form readily transmissible between humans, with the potential to cause millions of deaths.