China confirms 4 more cases of H7N9 bird flu
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
April 3, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Four people in eastern Jiangsu Province have been confirmed as being infected with the lesser-known H7N9 bird flu, bringing the total number of infections in the country to seven.
The four, from four cities in Jiangsu, are in a critical condition and under emergency treatment, the provincial health bureau said in a statement yesterday.
The four were confirmed as having H7N9 avian influenza by an expert team summoned by the provincial health bureau, based on clinical observations, laboratory tests and epidemiological surveys, the statement said.
No mutual infections were discovered among them.
A total of 167 people who had come into contact with the four showed no symptoms of fever or respiratory illnesses, it said.
The four included a 45-year-old woman from Nanjing, a 48-year-old woman from Suqian, an 83-year-old man from Suzhou, and a 32-year-old woman from Wuxi.
The woman from Nanjing, Xu Wenqin, fell ill on March 19. She was transferred to an intensive care unit on March 27 after her condition got worse. She was described as a poultry butcher.
The woman from Suqian fell ill on March 19 and was transferred to intensive care in Nanjing on March 30.
Tests by the Jiangsu provincial center for disease control and prevention found the two women positive for the H7N9 strain on March 30 and further tests carried out by China's center for disease prevention and control confirmed the results on April 2.
The man from Suzhou became ill on March 20 and was admitted to a local hospital on March 29.
He was first tested positive for H7N9 bird flu on Monday.
The woman from Wuxi fell ill on March 21 and was transferred to an intensive care unit after her condition worsened on March 28.
She tested positive for H7N9 bird flu on March 31.
On Sunday, three H7N9 bird flu cases were reported, two in Shanghai and one in Anhui Province, the first human infections of the bird flu strain.
The two men died in Shanghai while the woman from Anhui is in a critical condition and undergoing treatment in Nanjing.
It is unclear how the three got infected, and no mutual infections were discovered among them, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said. No abnormalities have been detected among 88 of their closest contacts.
The subtype of H7N9 bird flu virus has not been found in human beings before.
The virus shows no signs of being highly contagious among humans, according to clinical observation of the cases' close contacts.
However, because of the limited number of cases, relatively little research has been done on the virus.
A team of experts is working to study the toxicity and human-infection capacity of the virus, the commission said.
"When you don't look, you don't find them, but when you look, you'll find," Dr Ray Yip, a public health expert who heads the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in China, told the Associated Press.
"A lot of people get severe respiratory conditions, pneumonia, so you usually don't test them. Now all of a sudden you get this new reported strain of flu and so people are going to submit more samples to test, (so) you're more likely to see more cases," Yip said.
There are no vaccines against the H7N9 bird flu virus either at home or abroad.
Health authorities in Beijing have upped the capital's state of readiness, ordering hospitals to monitor for cases of bird flu and unexplained pneumonia.
The four, from four cities in Jiangsu, are in a critical condition and under emergency treatment, the provincial health bureau said in a statement yesterday.
The four were confirmed as having H7N9 avian influenza by an expert team summoned by the provincial health bureau, based on clinical observations, laboratory tests and epidemiological surveys, the statement said.
No mutual infections were discovered among them.
A total of 167 people who had come into contact with the four showed no symptoms of fever or respiratory illnesses, it said.
The four included a 45-year-old woman from Nanjing, a 48-year-old woman from Suqian, an 83-year-old man from Suzhou, and a 32-year-old woman from Wuxi.
The woman from Nanjing, Xu Wenqin, fell ill on March 19. She was transferred to an intensive care unit on March 27 after her condition got worse. She was described as a poultry butcher.
The woman from Suqian fell ill on March 19 and was transferred to intensive care in Nanjing on March 30.
Tests by the Jiangsu provincial center for disease control and prevention found the two women positive for the H7N9 strain on March 30 and further tests carried out by China's center for disease prevention and control confirmed the results on April 2.
The man from Suzhou became ill on March 20 and was admitted to a local hospital on March 29.
He was first tested positive for H7N9 bird flu on Monday.
The woman from Wuxi fell ill on March 21 and was transferred to an intensive care unit after her condition worsened on March 28.
She tested positive for H7N9 bird flu on March 31.
On Sunday, three H7N9 bird flu cases were reported, two in Shanghai and one in Anhui Province, the first human infections of the bird flu strain.
The two men died in Shanghai while the woman from Anhui is in a critical condition and undergoing treatment in Nanjing.
It is unclear how the three got infected, and no mutual infections were discovered among them, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said. No abnormalities have been detected among 88 of their closest contacts.
The subtype of H7N9 bird flu virus has not been found in human beings before.
The virus shows no signs of being highly contagious among humans, according to clinical observation of the cases' close contacts.
However, because of the limited number of cases, relatively little research has been done on the virus.
A team of experts is working to study the toxicity and human-infection capacity of the virus, the commission said.
"When you don't look, you don't find them, but when you look, you'll find," Dr Ray Yip, a public health expert who heads the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in China, told the Associated Press.
"A lot of people get severe respiratory conditions, pneumonia, so you usually don't test them. Now all of a sudden you get this new reported strain of flu and so people are going to submit more samples to test, (so) you're more likely to see more cases," Yip said.
There are no vaccines against the H7N9 bird flu virus either at home or abroad.
Health authorities in Beijing have upped the capital's state of readiness, ordering hospitals to monitor for cases of bird flu and unexplained pneumonia.
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