China: Two dead, one sickened from ‘novel’ strain of bird flu
Three people have been infected by a rare strain of avian influenza in China, which has resulted in two fatalities, according to a Xinhua news report Sunday.
Image/CIA
The cases from Shanghai and Anhui Province were infected with H7N9 avian influenza, a strain of the virus not seen in humans before. The strain was identified by the Chinese Center for Disease Control.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that lab testing for influenza A(H3N2), A (H1N1)pdm09 and A(H5N1), as well as for novel coronavirus, has been negative.
According to the report, the victims include an 87-year-old male in Shanghai who got sick on Feb. 19 and died on March 4, a 27-year-old male in Shanghai who became ill on Feb. 27 and died on March 10, and a 35-year-old female in Chuzhou City of Anhui who became ill on March 9 and is now in a critical condition.
Feng Zijian, Director of China Public Health Emergency Center, said, “In the three cases we found, two of them had been related to birds or chickens. But in the third case, he hadn’t left his home for two weeks before he started to get a fever. So based on what we have now, we still don’t know what the source of the infection was”, according to a CNTV report.
Dozens of close contacts of the victims have been observed and there are no signs of human-to-human transmission of the virus.
Moderators at the infectious disease outbreak site, ProMed Mail wrote, While these facts do not indicate any imminent threat of a human epidemic, the situation is novel and alarming, particularly as the human population has not been exposed to influenza viruses of H7 or N9 antigenicity in the past, and can be assumed to have no innate immunity. Further information is awaited.
Watch the CNTV news report video
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