Forty percent of China’s H7N9 bird flu cases involve individuals that have had no clear-cut contact with poultry, the Beijing News newspaper reported today. Sizing up the risks from the disease, experts working with the government’s National Health and Family Planning Commission said yesterday the origin of the disease is infected poultry or an environment that has been infected by poultry, the newspaper said. As a result, the important dangers for individuals are contact with infected poultry or exposure to live poultry markets, the report said.
Until the spread is effectively controlled, the number of cases many continue to increase, the newspaper said.
With the disease spreading and possible carriers in the population, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is considering expanded monitoring.
State media reported today that the total number of H7N9 bird flu cases increased by 14 yesterday to 77, the biggest one-day increase in new cases to date. http://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2013/04/16/40-of-chinese-sick-with-h7n9-bird-flu-had-no-contact-with-poultry-report/ (See story here.)http://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2013/04/16/h7n9-birdflu-cases-in-china-climb-to-77-as-shanghai-retrospectively-adds-to-total/
