China H7N9 avian influenza cases continue to mount, Sinovac Biotech files application to start H7N9 vaccine trials
The Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) received notification yesterday (January 30) of seven additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) respectively in Jiangmen (one case) from the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province, and in Zhejiang (four cases), Jiangsu (one case) and Guangxi (one case) from the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
The case in Jiangmen involves a woman aged 67. She passed away on January 28.
The four cases in Zhejiang involve four men aged 64, 75, 76 and 78 who are all under treatment in hospital.
The case in Jiangsu involves a woman aged 75. She is now hospitalized for treatment.
The case in Guangxi involves a woman aged 56 who is now hospitalized for treatment.
As of yesterday, a total of 266 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed in the Mainland.
This has prompted the National Health and Family Planning Commission to announce Wednesday live poultry markets should close if any case of H7N9 avian flu is detected.
The southern metropolis of Shenzhen has closed all live poultry markets until Feb. 13 for a thorough cleaning. The city near Hong Kong has reported 14 human H7N9 cases since Dec. 18, according to a Xinhua report.
Live poultry trading has been halted in Hangzhou, Ningbo and Jinhua cities in Zhejiang, which reported the largest number of human H7N9 cases.
In other news, Chinese biopharmaceutical company, Sinovac Biotech Ltd announced Jan. 29 that it has submitted a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) with the China Food and Drug Administration(CFDA) to commence human clinical trials for its vaccine against Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.
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