 Another worker in a South China plant has been hospitalized with avian flu, raising official concerns tonight that a bird flu pandemic has begun. Good evening, I'm Todd Glickman. A new report from the Chinese government confirms that a second worker at the Jilin electronics plant in South China has been diagnosed with avian flu. This news comes less than 24 hours after the death of Hei Wang, the 22-year-old woman who also worked in the Jilin factory and was diagnosed with a lethal H5N1 strain of the virus. A second case of bird flu in the same Chinese factory is raising concerns that the virus is now spreading from human to human. While some experts warn that this could be the start of a global epidemic, government officials are calling for calm, emphasizing that there is still no evidence that the two cases are linked and certainly no proof of a pandemic. The China National Influenza Laboratory in Beijing says it is still waiting for blood test results for the second Jilin worker. Meanwhile, U.S. Human Services Secretary Joan Smith is asking the public to remain calm, saying, quote, we must wait for the outcome of these tests. And even if the two cases are connected, we are still a long way from a pandemic. So what if there is an outbreak of bird flu that can be transmitted from human to human? Experts have said that such an outbreak could trigger a pandemic capable of killing millions of people worldwide. For evidence, these experts point to history. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 caused an estimated 50 million fatalities, and the most recent global epidemic was in 1968, when the Hong Kong flu killed about a million people. Experts say we would face different challenges in 2006. Our disease detection systems and medications are much better today. However, there's been explosive growth in the number of people traveling internationally, making it much easier for a virus to spread around the globe. And now a new concern is emerging. Birds and people may not be the only carriers of the deadly virus. A new report claims that the avian flu may arrive in packages inside freight containers. The study published today by the Institute for the Study of Pandemic Control suggests that the H5N1 virus can survive for as long as 36 hours on plastic surfaces. This means, for example, that a new PC being shipped from Asia could be a carrier. The report is based on a two-year study of several viruses, including bird flu. However, many experts are disputing the claim. The Global Virus Laboratory in Brussels, Belgium has called the study inconclusive. They point to past research, which has shown that viruses cannot survive for long periods on inert surfaces. When we come back, a look at how local hospitals are gearing up for a possible pandemic. You're watching CTL News.