Some good news from Nanjing

Via China Daily: Father of bird flu victim infected, recovering. Excerpt:

The father of a young man who died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu in east China's Jiangsu Province last Sunday was recovering on Saturday after he was infected with the same virus, the provincial health authorities said.

The 52-year-old man surnamed Lu from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, showed "signs of improvement", according to bird flu prevention experts in Jiangsu.

Lu was feverish on Monday when he was under medical observation at home. Medical experts immediately sent him to the designated hospital for treatment.

The experts said the signs of improvement proved his treatment was timely and effective.

The local government had taken prevention and control measures. All the people who had close contact with Lu have been put under strict medical observation. So far, they have shown no signs of the disease.

The Ministry of Health had also reported the case to the World Health Organization, authorities in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and some foreign governments.

Lu's son was said to have no contact with dead poultry and the Jiangsu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau said no bird flu epidemic had been discovered in the province.

I don't know much Chinese, but I know that "lao" means "old," and is meant as a respectful and affectionate title—especially to distinguish a person with the same surname as someone else.

So Lao Lu is recovering, and that's good news. But he and his wife have lost their son, probably their only child. In a country that relies on children to look after their aging parents, that's grim news.

And in a country with over $1.4 trillion in foreign reserves, you'd think the authorities could find some money to support shattered families like Lao Lu's.