NANCHANG - The health department of East China's Jiangxi province on Thursday reported the province's first suspected human case of H7N9 avian influenza.

In line with established protocol, the provincial center of disease control and prevention has sent the patient's samples to the national lab to confirm the diagnosis.

The patient, a 69-year-old man, has been admitted to the No 3 Hospital in Nanchang, the provincial capital.

The health department has not disclosed his condition.

The city's disease control authority has quarantined 14 people who have had close contact with the patient. None of them have exhibited any abnormal symptoms.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said in its Wednesday update that the total number of H7N9 cases reported in the mainland stood at 108, including 23 cases that have ended in death.

Most of the cases were reported in East China's Shanghai municipality and the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui.