H7N9 mutates but humans unaffected
Print Edition
THE H7N9 bird flu has mutated to a new strain in south China, which is more dangerous to poultry but poses no new threat to humans, according to the country’s disease control and prevention authorities.
The mutation was found in January in two people who contracted H7N9 bird flu in Guangdong Province. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the finding and reported to the World Health Organization.
The agricultural sector has also found the mutation in four poultry samples from Guangdong, the center said. On the basis of joint study with experts from the agricultural sector, the center has concluded that the mutation “does not make the virus more infectious to human at the moment.”
Chinese health and agricultural authorities will continue to study the mutated strain’s source and its impact while intensifying monitoring to detect H7N9’s further mutations, the center said.
China has stepped up prevention of H7N9 avian flu transmission. It has been linked to at least 88 deaths since January. About 271 human infections cases were reported.
Most infected humans have had contact with poultry or dead birds. Among them were the two patients from Guangdong.
Bird flu is known to easily mutate. The public are concerned that a mutation might make it more infectious to humans.
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