Chinese health officials are reporting the nation's first fall case of bird flu, in a 35-year-old man who became sickened with the H7N9 virus.
 

Including the new case, 135 people have been sickened with H7N9 in China and 45 have died, Xinhua says. Local athorities confirmed that the man, surnamed Liu, tested positive for the H7N9 virus at the Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Xinhua News Agency, China's official press agency.

Liu, a company employee from Shaoxing County, was admitted to a hospital on Oct. 8 and remains in critical condition.

It was the second such case reported in Zhejiang since late April, according to a statement from the provincial health department.

The outbreak began in late March. New cases declined in May and over the summer, but health experts are worried they could start to rise again in the fall and winter months.