A blood donor with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, infected at least 23 people in northeast China's Jilin province before being diagnosed with the disease, state media reported on Saturday.
The infected donor, identified only by the surname Song and living in the city of Dehui, was confirmed to have HIV on Oct 20 after 25 people had already received the blood, the China Youth Daily said.
One victim, surnamed Wang, died on November 10, 40 days after being confirmed as suffering from AIDS. Wang had received the tainted blood during an operation in March 2003.
The case was uncovered after Wang's relatives reported the death to local authorities, who traced the blood back to Song.
Two other recipients of Song's blood have also died from AIDS, while another 18 have been confirmed to have HIV.
Song's two sex partners, along with one partner's spouse, were also confirmed to carry the virus.
According to the newspaper, Song had been employed but was unable to work after being involved in a car accident more than 10 years ago, and started giving blood for money.
Song gave blood 15 times between January 2003 and June 2004, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
According to the newspaper, Song had been employed but was unable to work after being involved in a car accident more than 10 years ago, and started giving blood for money.
Song gave blood 15 times between January 2003 and June 2004, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Xinhua said that six health officials in Dehui were either stripped of their leading posts or placed on probation within the Communist Party after the case was uncovered.
In an unrelated case involving HIV in China, a 32-year-old drug addict and HIV carrier in the southern city of Shenzhen was taken into custody after he held a boy hostage and spilled his blood on the child during a standoff with police.
Police had come to question the man after his neighbours claimed he was using his status as an HIV carrier to scare them into giving him money to buy drugs.
The boy was released after three hours of negotiation and taken to a hospital where several small wounds were discovered on his body, the South China Morning Post reported.
He will now have to wait about a week for the results of an initial HIV test, the paper said.
The World Health Organisation and the Chinese government said in 2002 that China could have 10 million cases of HIV by 2010, a figure still widely cited.
But earlier this week, the WHO's chief China representative said improved counting and China's steps to contain the disease mean a new assessment of infection rates would be significantly lower.