Authorities in southwest China are investigating a mysterious disease that has killed 17 farm workers and left 41 others ill after they handled sick or dead livestock, state media said on Monday. The government of Sichuan province has dismissed speculation that the deaths were caused by bird flu or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), an assessment affirmed by the World Health Organization. "From the information we have it doesn't seem to be related to bird flu. We made that distinction based on the symptoms described to us by the government," Bob Dietz, a WHO spokesman in Manila, told Reuters by telephone. "This (disease) doesn't seem to have a large pneumonia content or a large respiratory problem," Dietz said.
