CHANGSHA, Nov. 8(Xinhuanet)-- A nine-year-old boy surnamed He, who was diagnosed as having caught a "pneumonia of unknown cause,"has recovered after three weeks in hospital in Xiangtan County of central China's Hunan Province.

He is still quarantined, awaiting the final result of tests on the cause of his illness by the Chinese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, said He Xiao, a doctor with Hunan Provincial Children's Hospital.

"I don't feel feverish any more and have a good appetite," the boy told Xinhua reporters on Tuesday. Hospital authorities say the boy can be discharged any time in terms of his physical conditions.

The boy and his sister, aged 12, showed pneumonia symptoms together. The sister died on Oct. 17.

Investigation showed that they had both eaten the meat of some dead poultry when the highly pathogenic bird flu hit their home village of Wantang in Xiangtan County.

Experts have presently diagnosed the boy's illness as "pneumonia of unknown cause," but do not rule out a possible humancase of H5N1 bird flu.

The boy's case suggests a great possibility of viral pneumonia and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is carrying out further tests, according to doctors with the local hospital. Enditem