GUANGZHOU, Jan. 15 -- Four new human contractions of H7N9 bird flu were reported in three provinces in China on Wednesday, according to provincial health authorities.

Southeast China's Guangdong Province reported two new cases including a 48-year-old man surnamed Xie and a 55-year-old man surnamed Wang, who are both seriously ill and receiving treatment in the cities of Foshan and Shenzhen respectively.

One new case has been reported in east China's Shanghai Municipality. A 35-year-old man surnamed Wu from nearby Zhejiang Province is currently being treatment in Shanghai.

The news brings the total number of cases reported in Shanghai to four in 2014.

And Zhejiang Province also reported one new patient, a 41-year-old man surnamed Hou in Hangzhou City -- the 12th H7N9 case in Zhejiang in 2014.

So far this year, human contractions of H7N9 have also been reported in the provinces of Jiangsu and Fujian. A suspected case was also reported in southwest China's Guizhou Province on Monday.