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Spread of H7N9 Bird Flu Worries Officials in China

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arirish View Drop Down
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    Posted: February 15 2017 at 8:14am
Spread of H7N9 Bird Flu Worries Officials in China

As many as 79 people died from H7N9 bird flu in China last month, the Chinese government said, stoking worries that the spread of the virus this season could be the worst on record.

January's fatalities were up to four times higher than the same month in past years, and brought the total H7N9 death toll to 100 people since October, data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission showed late on Tuesday.

Authorities have repeatedly warned the public to stay alert for the virus, and cautioned against panic in the world's second-largest economy.
But the latest bird flu data has sparked concerns of a repeat of previous health crises, like the 2002 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
"It's mid-February already and we are just getting the January numbers. With the death rate almost catching up with SARS, shouldn't warnings be issued earlier?" said one user of popular microblog Sina Weibo.

Other netizens in the Chinese blogosphere worried about the pace of infections, and called for even more up-to-date reports.

The People's Daily, the official paper of the ruling Communist Party, warned people in a social media post to stay away from live poultry markets, saying it was "extremely clear" that poultry and their excrement were the cause of the infections.

"The situation is still ongoing, and our Chinese counterparts are actively investigating the reported cases," the World Health Organization's China Representative Office said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

"As the investigation is ongoing, it is premature to conclusively identify the cause for the increased number of cases. Nevertheless, we know that the majority of human cases got the A(H7N9) virus through contact with infected poultry or contaminated environments, including live poultry markets."

““This season there seems to have been a slower response to the outbreak, which may be leading to greater numbers of human exposures to infected birds.””

China, which first reported a human infection from the virus in March 2013, has seen a sharp rise in H7N9 cases since December. The official government total is 306 since October, with 192 reported last month.

But others believe the number of infections is higher.

The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota last week estimated China had at least 347 human infections so far this winter, eclipsing the record of 319 seen three years ago.

"An important factor in the past waves of H7N9 cases among humans in China has been rapid closure of live poultry markets," said Ian Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland in Australia.

"This season there seems to have been a slower response to the outbreak, which may be leading to greater numbers of human exposures to infected birds."

The National Health and Family Planning Commission has yet to respond to a request from Reuters seeking comment on the recent bird flu deaths.

Most of the H7N9 human infections reported this season have been in the south and along the coast.

In Hong Kong, where two of the four patients infected with H7N9 this winter have died, health officials said they would step up checks at poultry farms.

H7N9 had spread widely and early this year, but most cases were contained in the same areas as previous years, including the Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong, Shu Yuelong, head of the Chinese National Influenza Center, told state radio.

Beijing on Saturday reported its first human H7N9 case this year. The patient is a 68-year-old man from Langfang city in neighbouring Hebei province.

A second human case was reported on Tuesday.

"It is highly likely that further sporadic cases will continue to be reported," the WHO said.

"Whenever influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases are possible."




http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/spread-h7n9-bird-flu-worries-officials-china-n721221
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CRS, DrPH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 15 2017 at 12:28pm
Good post, thanks! 

I think the virus is evolving through mutation, and becoming more infectious to human hosts...not surprising, since the Chinese literally bath in the excrement of their farm animals!  (not kidding)

"Sequence analyses showed that the H7N9 viruses might have undergone mutations that are favorable for efficient replication in mammalian hosts."


http://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6142/183

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 15 2017 at 12:56pm
Does this article suggest H7N9 is in poultry in Japan or Korea, or are they lumping all strains together, I wonder? The claim that 30% of China's live poultry markets are infected with H7N9 is particularly disturbing.


China reported as many as 79 fatalities from H7N9 bird flu in January, the government said, taking the death toll so far this winter to 100 and stirring further concerns about the spread of the deadly virus. The National Health and Family Planning Commission did not disclose the location of the fatalities or the infection rates, but the southern province of Guangdong said on Tuesday it registered 10 fatalities last month. Chinese disease control experts have warned the public to stay alert for H7N9 avian flu, with the commission saying more than 300 cases of human infection have been reported since October. South Korea and Japan are also battling their own major outbreaks and have culled millions of chickens.
The virus is likely to strike in winter and spring, and farmers have in recent years ramped up measures such as cleaning regimes to prevent the disease. China has confirmed five bird flu outbreaks among poultry this winter, which has led to the culling of more than 175,000 birds. China, the world's third-largest producer of broiler chickens and the second-biggest consumer of poultry, has also closed some live poultry markets after people and chickens were infected by the avian flu strains. Here is a table for the poultry and human bird flu cases reported in China, inChina reported as many as 79 fatalities from H7N9 bird flu in January, the government said, taking the death toll so far this winter to 100 and stirring further concerns about the spread of the deadly virus. The National Health and Family Planning Commission did not disclose the location of the fatalities or the infection rates, but the southern province of Guangdong said on Tuesday it registered 10 fatalities last month. Chinese disease control experts have warned the public to stay alert for H7N9 avian flu, with the commission saying more than 300 cases of human infection have been reported since October. South Korea and Japan are also battling their own major outbreaks and have culled millions of chickens. The virus is likely to strike in winter and spring, and farmers have in recent years ramped up measures such as cleaning regimes to prevent the disease. China has confirmed five bird flu outbreaks among poultry this winter, which has led to the culling of more than 175,000 birds. China, the world's third-largest producer of broiler chickens and the second-biggest consumer of poultry, has also closed some live poultry markets after people and chickens were infected by the avian flu strains.
Here is a table for the poultry and human bird flu cases reported in China, including the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau: Location Birds Birds Virus Details infected culled strain Total 63,338 175,308 H5N6 Xinjiang 16,000 55,903 H5N6 Strain confirmed in Yining, a city of 500,000 people Sichuan 13,000 38,000 H5N6 Strain confirmed in Deyang, a city of 3.5 million people Gansu 30,000 77,172 H5N6 Strain confirmed in a district in Jinchang, a city of 470,000 people Hubei 4,338 2,166 H5N6 Strain confirmed in Xiaochang, a city of 4.8 million people Hunan 2,067 H5N6 Strain confirmed on a goose farm in Yuanjiang, a city of 760,000 people Location People Deaths Virus Details Infected Total 306* 100* H7N9 Guangdong 35 10 H7N9 Province reported 14 infections in Dec and 21 in Jan.
Warned that about 30 percent of live poultry markets infected with H7N9. Guangzhou suspended markets for some days through March [nL4N1EV3 OP] Hunan 20 5 H7N9 Authorities closed live poultry markets in several cities including provincial capital Changsha Zhejiang 35 H7N9 Provinces ordered all live poultry markets shut Jiangsu 4 H7N9 Three cities - Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou - suspended live poultry trade after neighbouring provinces infected Anhui 5 2 H7N9 The province shut some livestock markets and stepped up sterilisation Fujian 1 H7N9 Jiangxi 6 H7N9 Guizhou 1 H7N9 Shanghai 4 H7N9 Shandong 2 1 H7N9 Henan 2 H7N9 Beijing 1 H7N9 Yunan 1 H7N9 Hong Kong 3 2 H7N9 Macau 2 H7N9 * China's government did not specify where each human infection case took placecluding the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau: Location Birds Birds Virus Details infected culled strain Total 63,338 175,308 H5N6 Xinjiang 16,000 55,903 H5N6 Strain confirmed in Yining, a city of 500,000 people Sichuan 13,000 38,000 H5N6 Strain confirmed in Deyang, a city of 3.5 million people Gansu 30,000 77,172 H5N6 Strain confirmed in a district in Jinchang, a city of 470,000 people Hubei 4,338 2,166 H5N6 Strain confirmed in Xiaochang, a city of 4.8 million people Hunan 2,067 H5N6 Strain confirmed on a goose farm in Yuanjiang, a city of 760,000 people Location People Deaths Virus Details Infected Total 306* 100* H7N9 Guangdong 35 10 H7N9 Province reported 14 infections in Dec and 21 in Jan. Warned that about 30 percent of live poultry markets infected with H7N9. Guangzhou suspended markets for some days through March [nL4N1EV3 OP] Hunan 20 5 H7N9 Authorities closed live poultry markets in several cities including provincial capital Changsha Zhejiang 35 H7N9 Provinces ordered all live poultry markets shut Jiangsu 4 H7N9 Three cities - Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou - suspended live poultry trade after neighbouring provinces infected Anhui 5 2 H7N9 The province shut some livestock markets and stepped up sterilisation Fujian 1 H7N9 Jiangxi 6 H7N9 Guizhou 1 H7N9 Shanghai 4 H7N9 Shandong 2 1 H7N9 Henan 2 H7N9 Beijing 1 H7N9 Yunan 1 H7N9 Hong Kong 3 2 H7N9 Macau 2 H7N9 * China's government did not specify where each human infection case took place



http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-factbox-china-bird-flu-death-toll-hits-100-this-winter-2323462

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CRS, DrPH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 15 2017 at 7:33pm
Originally posted by jacksdad jacksdad wrote:

Does this article suggest H7N9 is in poultry in Japan or Korea, or are they lumping all strains together, I wonder? The claim that 30% of China's live poultry markets are infected with H7N9 is particularly disturbing.

Actually, I've seen numbers much higher than 30%!   The virus is considered "endemic" in Chinese poultry, which means "widespread."  It is a low pathogenicity virus in birds, so they carry the virus without exhibiting overt illness. 

The country is filthy with the stuff, and I'm sure many cases are misdiagnosed or under-reported.   It will just take some time before it jumps into mammals in a big way.  Sad. 


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 15 2017 at 9:20pm
It's going to be tough keeping tabs on this one if it stays asymptomatic in birds - at least H5N1 was easy to spot.
"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary.
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