A man in eastern China has contracted what might be the world's first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, but the risk of large-scale spread is low, the government said Tuesday.

The 41-year-old man in Jiangsu province, northwest of Shanghai, was hospitalized April 28 and is in stable condition, the National Health Commission said on its website.

No human case of H10N3 has been reported elsewhere, the commission said.

"This infection is an accidental cross-species transmission," its statement said. "The risk of large-scale transmission is low."