BEIJING: One more death relating to H7N9 bird flu was reported Wednesday, bringing the death toll to three and the total number of infected patients to nine in China.
It was reported that two more patients from east China's Zhejiang Province were infected with the new strain of bird flu, one of them died from the virus while another has been hospitalised for better treatment.
The state-run Xinhua news agency cited the provincial health department reported that Hong, 38 died on March 27 before the provincial and national disease control centres confirmed on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, that he was infected with H7N9 avian influenza.
"The man, who worked in Jiangsu Province became ill on March 7 and was admitted to a hospital on March 18," the agency said.
Meanwhile, another patient, a retired Hangzhou man named Yang was admitted to a hospital on March 25 with cough and fever.
Xinhua reported that he was transferred to another hospital for better treatment and remained hospitalised, adding that the patient was diagnosed as being infected with the virus by both provincial and national health authorities on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
It said all 183 people who came into contact with the two men have so far shown no symptoms of fever or respiratory illness.
China confirmed its first three H7N9 bird flu cases on March 31, with two deaths reported and the other patient in severe condition.
A woman was confirmed infected with the virus on Tuesday and was being treated in a hospital's intensive care unit.
In another development, Beijing municipal government will set up an expert team to evaluate the severity and risk of the H7N9 bird flu, reported Xinhua.
"Hospitals in Beijing have been directed to include testing for H7N9 in routine monitoring, and started training their staff in treating pneumonia caused by unknown factors," Xinhua added.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Animal Disease Prevention and Control Centre has tested 34 samples of pig bodies pulled from the Huangpu River, Shanghai and found no bird flu virus.
Earlier last month, some 16,000 pig bodies were found in the river and raised public concerns if the H7N9 cases could be related to the carcasses. - BERNAMA
Read more:
H7N9 death toll rises to 3 in China - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/h7n9-death-toll-rises-to-3-in-china-1.247666#ixzz2PQ2c55Tk
The World Health Organisation on Tuesday played down fears over the
new outbreak of bird flu, but said it was crucial to find out how the
virus was spreading.
One expert warned of the risk of a pandemic if the source of
infection is not identified, saying H7N9 had likely crossed over from
poultry.
"If one can identify that, then you have possible interventions to
reduce human exposure and ideally to stamp out the virus," said Malik
Peiris, Chair Professor of the Virology School of Public Health at the
University of Hong Kong.
"If we don't do that and do it quickly, we probably will lose the
opportunity to eradicate this virus," he told AFP in an interview.
"If we don't eradicate it pretty quickly, this virus will become endemic and spread across China and beyond China," he added. - AFP
3 die from H7N9 bird flu in China
by
Agence France-Presse
Posted on 04/03/2013 10:07 PM | Updated 04/03/2013 10:11 PM
BIRD
FLU. China's commercial hub Shanghai is stepping up monitoring after a
new strain of bird flu killed two people, state media said on April 1,
as Taiwan announced it would screen travellers from the mainland. Photo
by AFP
SHANGHAI, China- A man in the
Chinese province of Zhejiang has died of the H7N9 strain of bird flu,
state media said Wednesday, bringing the total deaths attributed to the
virus to three since the first human cases.
He was one of two H7N9 avian influenza infections reported in
Zhejiang in eastern China, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing
local authorities, bringing the country's total number of cases to 9.
Chinese authorities are trying to determine how exactly the new
variety of bird flu infected people, but say there is no evidence yet of
human-to-human transmission.
The latest fatality was a 38-year-old man who worked as a chef, media
website Zhejiang Online said. The province's other case was a
67-year-old retiree who was being treated in hospital.
Two other deaths have been reported, both in China's commercial hub
of Shanghai. Other cases have occurred in the eastern provinces of
Jiangsu and Anhui, the government has said.
The World Health Organisation on Tuesday played down fears over the
new outbreak of bird flu, but said it was crucial to find out how the
virus was spreading.
One expert warned of the risk of a pandemic if the source of
infection is not identified, saying H7N9 had likely crossed over from
poultry.
"If one can identify that, then you have possible interventions to
reduce human exposure and ideally to stamp out the virus," said Malik
Peiris, Chair Professor of the Virology School of Public Health at the
University of Hong Kong.
"If we don't do that and do it quickly, we probably will lose the
opportunity to eradicate this virus," he told AFP in an interview.
"If we don't eradicate it pretty quickly, this virus will become endemic and spread across China and beyond China," he added.
Vietnam bans poulty imports from China
China's neighbour Vietnam has announced an immediate ban on all
Chinese poultry imports and stepped up border controls in response to
the outbreak.
Hanoi has imposed the ban to "actively and efficiently prevent the
intrusion of the H7N9 virus into Vietnam", according to an urgent
message signed by the Minister of Agriculture Cao Duc Phat.
Taiwan, which is separated from mainland China by a narrow strait,
said Wednesday it had raised its level of alert and set up a group
tasked with preparing to prevent a possible epidemic.
In Shanghai, where two people have died from the virus, some residents expressed worries over eating poultry.
"I'll stop buying chickens for the moment and wait until the
situation eases," said a middle-aged woman at a traditional food market.
Shanghai officials have assured people that the city's chicken and
pork are safe to eat, after the H7N9 cases and the recovery of more than
16,000 dead pigs from the city's main river last month, but many are
unconvinced.
China is considered one of the countries at greater risk from bird
flu because it is one of the world's biggest poultry producers and many
chickens in rural areas are kept close to humans.
The more common strain of avian flu, H5N1, has killed more than 360
people globally from 2003 until March 12 this year, according to the
World Health Organization. -
Rappler.com
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UPDATE:
ReplyDelete6 Confirmed dead.
20,000 Birds destroyed Shanghai.
Link to chickens was Pigeons sold in Communiity market.
Xinhua News Agency