Beijing, Oct 26 (IANS): Chinese researchers announced Saturday to have developed a vaccine for H7N9 bird flu virus, after the flu strain left over 130 people infected, of which 45 died.

According to Shu Yuelong, director of the Chinese National Influenza Centre, this is the first influenza vaccine ever developed by Chinese scientists, Xinhua reported.

The vaccine has provided important technical support to battle the new flu strain, making contribution to the H7N9 flu virus epidemic control all over the world, said Shu, also a director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza.

The vaccine has been jointly developed by the First Affiliated Hospital under the School of Medicine of the Zhejiang University, Hong Kong University, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Food and Drug Control, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

China reported the world's first human case for H7N9 bird flu infection in March.

As of Friday, a total of 136 people were confirmed to have been infected with the virus, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. Of the infected, 45 died, representing a fatality rate of about 33 percent.