Singapore: With the number of H7N9 cases increasing in China, the country has now reported five new cases and one death in the last one week.

Hong Kong researchers have also reported genetic findings from the city's first H7N9 patient, which they said included a mutation that might enhance disease severity.

The provincial health department said in a statement that all of the new cases were reported from Guangdong province.

Guangdong province is one of provinces with the highest number of H7N9 cases during the second bout of the influenza.

The provinces confirmed a H7N9 infection in a 31-year-old man who has been hospitalized and is in stable condition, news reports said. Other patients include two men, ages 76 and 33, and two women, ages 55 and 75. All four have been hospitalized and are in critical condition.

The newly reported death increases the fatality count to 114. So far there have been 234 illnesses reported during the second wave of H7N9 infections, compared with 136 during the first wave last spring.