Beijing ? Two more people sickened by bird flu in China have died, bringing the total number of humans killed by the disease on the mainland to five, the World Health Organization said today.

The announcement came as China’s Agriculture Ministry said that 16,000 quails died Jan. 1-6 in an outbreak in Guiyang, the capital of the southwestern province of Guizhou – the country’s 28th reported outbreak of bird flu in birds since Oct. 19.

Officials culled an additional 42,000 birds in Guizhou, the ministry said.

In the human cases, Chinese authorities said a 10-year-old girl from Guangxi province in the south and a 35-year-old man from Jiangxi province in the east died last month from complications from the disease, said Roy Wadia, a spokesman for the WHO in Beijing.

“We’ve seen that happening in other cases as well, so it’s not surprising,” Wadia said.

According to WHO figures, the deaths bring to 78 the number of people confirmed killed by the most virulent strain of the disease since 2003.