Background on Human Infections with other Avian Influenza Viruses

• Page last updated: April 22, 2013

Human infections with avian influenza viruses are rare and most often occur after people are in contact with an infected bird. However, non-sustained person-to-person spread of other avian influenza viruses is thought to have occurred in the past, most notably with avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses.

For example:

• In 1997, when the H5N1 virus first emerged there was evidence of limited transmission of H5N1 virus to health care workers and household contacts of H5N1 patients in Hong Kong, but the virus did not spread further.
• In 2003, in the Netherlands, there was evidence of possible transmission of H7N7 from 2 poultry workers to 3 family members.  All 3 family members had conjunctivitis and one also had ILI. (M Du Ry van Beest Holle, Meijer, et al, 2005.“Human to Human Transmission of of Avian Influenza /H7N7, The Netherlands, 2004.”)
• In 2004, in Thailand, there was evidence of probable human-to-human spread in a family cluster. Transmission was associated with prolonged very close contact between an ill child and her mother and her aunt. Transmission did not spread beyond one person. (Ungchusak et al, 2005. “Probable Person-to-Person Transmission of Avian Influenza A (H5N1).”)
• In 2005, in Indonesia, limited person-to-person H5N1 transmission could not be excluded in two clusters among patients who had no known contact with poultry or other animals. (Kandun et al, 2006. “Three Indonesian Clusters of H5N1 Virus Infection in 2005.”)
• In December 2007, limited, unsustained spread is thought to have occurred between a sick son and his father. (Wang et al, 2008. “Probable limited person-to-person transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in China.”)
• Also in 2007, evidence gathered during an outbreak investigation in Pakistan supports the theory of initial transmission from poultry to humans followed by human-to-human transmission involving a third generation. (WHO, Weekly Epidemiological Record, 2008. “Human cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) in North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, October–November 2007

Almost all of these cases occurred during unprotected, close and prolonged contact between a caregiver (mostly blood-related family members) and a very ill patient.

Based on this previous experience, it’s likely that some limited human-to-human spread of this H7N9 virus will be detected.

Human-to-human transmission ranges along a continuum; from occasional, “dead-end” human-to-human transmission, to efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission. “Dead end” transmission usually refers to when a virus from an animal host infects a person and then there is some subsequent transmission that eventually burns out. Efficient and sustained (ongoing) transmission in the community is needed for an influenza pandemic to begin. There is no evidence that the H7N9 virus in China is spreading in a sustained, ongoing way at this time.

However, the concern is that this H7N9 virus might either adapt to allow efficient transmission during the infection of mammals or reassort its gene segments with human influenza viruses during the co-infection of a single host, resulting in a new virus that would be transmissible from person to person. Such events are believed to have preceded the influenza pandemics of 1918, 1957, and 1968. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1-human-infections.htm

homing pigeons detected the H7N9 virus

MSC homing pigeons detected the H7N9 virus

Modern Express Reporter learned yesterday, Jiangsu Xingnong Wei received a notification from the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, a pigeon Jiangsu provincial animal disease prevention and control center for inspection of suspected samples, the review confirmed positive for H7N9 avian influenza. It is understood that the samples from the MSC County, Jiangsu Province, a pigeon ...  http://finance.ifeng.com/money/roll/20130423/7947665.shtml

Head of Preventive Medicine: transmission of bird flu from China to Egypt is "probable" 4/22/2013 8:39 PM Mr. princess Confirmed Dr. Suhair Abdul Qadir, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine of the General Authority for Veterinary Services, that avian influenza is still present in Egypt, but to a lesser extent than previously, noting that the avian influenza found in China came to it by birds migrating and thus there is a possibility of moving to Egypt.   She said Abdelkader during the intervention telephone program "90 Minutes" with the Media "Amrallity": "We currently do a number of experiments to see if it came to Egypt or not, but tests continued for birds suggest not to move to Egypt so far, saying that it recommends that handles both birds wash hand After dealing with the birds . http://new.elfagr.org/Detail.aspx?nwsId=328027&secid=1&vid=2#.UXWKurVwe5I

bird flu scare in China forces duck farmers to kill off scores of hatchlings (PHOTOS)

Fowl virus! New bird flu scare in China forces duck farmers to kill off scores of hatchlings (PHOTOS)  

Workers at a bird farm in China have been forced to kill off thousands of baby birds to stop the spread of a deadly new bird flu strain.

BY PHILIP CAUFIELD / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2013, 2:22 PM

HAP/QUIRKY CHINA NEWS/REX / REX /HAP/QUIRKY CHINA NEWS/REX / REX

A worker at a duck farm in Fujian Province tosses baby ducks into a furnace in an attempt to stop the spread of bird flu.

Oh, the flu-manity!

Heartbreaking photos from China show workers at a duck farm shoveling tiny ducklings into a furnace to stop the spread of a deadly new strain of bird flu.

Wearing surgical masks, the workers dump the fuzzy yellow hatchlings into the outdoor ovens by the basketful.

Health officials say the grim culling is necessary...

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/photos-new-bird-flu-scare-china-forces-duck-farmers-kill-scores-hatchlings-article-1.1324285#ixzz2RDk6b8yv

Taiwan or require terrestrial Taiwan H7N9 check compliance verification

Taiwan authorities education authorities 22 said it would continue to focus on mainland H7N9 avian flu developments, does not exclude the requirements of the new semester of the second half of the mainland students stage, the H7N9 avian influenza satisfactory health examination. 　　Epidemic Command Center said at a regular press conference. Taiwan Department of Education official said, the start of the new semester in September colleges and universities in Taiwan is expected to add approximately 2,000 terrestrial, coupled with more than 8800 terrestrial back-to-school reading, it is estimated that there will be more than 10,000 mainland students to units. "Is about to come to Taiwan in August, terrestrial, will depend on the needs of the epidemic, asking them to come to Taiwan to carry out a health check, once the diagnosis of H7N9 avian influenza infection, hoping that they suspend the station; has terrestrial station, by the school in accordance with the relevant their own health. " 　　the official said, currently studying terrestrial February this year by the Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces and cities to smaller concerns infection. 　　Students from mainland China to Taiwan to learn to open in 2011, Beijing and other provinces and cities as the first batch of pilot provinces, Hubei, Liaoning provinces will be added this year. 　　In addition.. http://business.sohu.com/20130422/n373608109.shtml

Scientists identify H7N9 influenza viruses cause infection and death

Entitled "ISOLATION and characterization of H7N9 viruses from live poultry Markets

2013-04-23 02:39 

A new study suggest that the recent novel H7N9 influenza virus in our country to cause human infections with the same period exists in the live bird markets on the H7N9 avian influenza virus is highly homologous to provide a basis for further control measures.

    

 - implication of the source of the current H7N9 infection in Humans" research papers will be published in "Science Bulletin" in English.Initially from the etiological point of view, the study reveals the characteristics of the new H7N9 influenza virus, written by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute researcher Chen Hua-lan and researcher Li Chengjun as Corresponding author.

    March 31, 2013, the National Health and Family Planning Commission announced a new type of human infection with the H7N9 influenza virus in Shanghai and Anhui. Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory to respond quickly to rapidly identify the source of the new H7N9 virus, which is essential to develop scientific and rational prevention and control measures.

    Researchers etiological 970 samples were collected in Shanghai, Anhui, live poultry markets and farms have been tested, of which 20 H7N9 avian influenza virus positive. Gene sequence analysis showed that the H7N9 avian influenza virus gene fragments are highly homologous with the H7N9 human isolates proved to cause human infections and lethal H7N9 influenza virus directly from the same period in poultry popular H7N9 avian influenza virus.

    The researchers said, it should be noted that these viruses isolated from the live bird markets samples collected samples of all farms were negative, suggesting that our new H7N9 virus may initially be generated in the live poultry market. The new H7N9 influenza virus is a the different sources virus recombinant virus and six internal genes from the H9N2 avian influenza virus, HA and NA genes is unclear sources.

    The researchers found that the novel H7N9 virus receptor binding sites a part of the human influenza virus definitions mutation, in addition to the virus after infection by adaptive mutation of the critical amino acid positions, these may also infection with the virus, and lethal ability.

    The recommendation of the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, Ministry of Agriculture and the Shanghai municipal government shut down the live bird markets in Shanghai, in order to cut off the source of the spread of the virus. National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory to act quickly, in order to effectively control the new H7N9 avian influenza virus, H7N9 avian influenza virus by RT-PCR diagnostic kit to the national veterinary disease control department, and provides a standard diagnostic antigen and serum. Reference Laboratory reserves H7 subtypes of avian influenza virus vaccine, the immune protective effect of the vaccine against the new H7N9 avian influenza virus is in the process of making an assessment of the process, and the Reference Laboratory researchers are working intensively to develop specifically for the new H7N9 avian influenza virus vaccines, and strive to put into use as soon as possible.

    National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory director Chen Hua-lan researcher believes that the greater threat to human health in order to control the H7N9 avian influenza virus, on the basis of the preliminary work more vigorously to strengthen the detection of the H7N9 avian influenza virus in poultry, to identify the virus source and route of transmission, and carry out the H7N9 virus pathogenicity, the ability to communicate and pathogenesis in animal models.

    It is understood that the study was funded by the National Key Basic Research and Development Program, the the national broiler industry technology system project and the national science and technology major special projects.http://www.kaixian.tv/R1/n2015297c19.shtml

Poultry contact in city's H7N9 cases

By Cai Wenjun  |   2013-4-23  
THIRTY out of 32 H7N9 cases in Shanghai involved direct or indirect contact with poultry or infected patients, health officials said yesterday. An investigation into the city's 33rd case is still under way.

Shanghai reported another death yesterday, bringing the number of fatalities from the infection to 12. Thirteen patients are still receiving treatment, while eight people have recovered. 

The Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission said an 86-year-old Shanghai man surnamed Duan who was confirmed with the virus on April 12 died on Sunday night.

No 'sustained' transmission

World Health Organization officials said in Shanghai yesterday that there was no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission, despite two family clusters in Shanghai - a father and son and a couple. 

Experts from a joint WHO-China team praised the work done in the city to prevent and control the disease at a news briefing. 

The team arrived in Shanghai on Saturday to investigate and assess how the city was dealing with the H7N9 outbreak.

Keiji Fukuda, a WHO assistant director-general and a member of the joint team, said whenever there were cases of family clusters, they would study whether the cases had been exposed to the same infected animal or environment and whether there was the possibility of person-to-person transmission. 

"We don't know the answer with the small cases and small clusters here and can't explain the small clusters with the information available," he said.

He said the virus kept changing and Shanghai had to remain on high alert for new cases and carry out analysis and investigation whenever detecting abnormal cases. He said quick responses, information sharing and openness and coordination between different authorities were key.
Shanghai health officials said the number of new cases in the city had been dropping over the past 10 days. 

"All detected cases so far started to develop symptoms before April 13," said Xu Jianguang, director of the health commission.

Yang Weizhong, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Chinese leader of the joint team, said information openness, effective surveillance and the quick closure of poultry markets were all effective in controlling H7N9.

"About 60 to 70 percent of viruses come from animals. Shanghai should have a long-term consideration for the live poultry trade after the H7N9 epidemic ends," Yang said. "Stricter management of live poultry markets and unified slaughtering, transportation and processing should be introduced for disease control."
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=529060&type=Metro

1 more poultry sample tested H7N9-positive

(Xinhua)

20:38, April 22, 2013   

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- One more poultry sample in east China has tested positive for the deadly H7N9 strain of avian flu, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said on Monday.

The avian flu virus was detected in one pigeon sample collected at a pigeon farm in Haian County of Jiangsu Province, according to an MOA statement on its website.

After gene sequence analysis, the national avian flu reference laboratory concluded that the strain of H7N9 found in the sample was highly congeneric with that found in a pigeon sample on April 4.

The ministry has order the province to strengthen monitoring of the H7N9 virus andtake proper disease prevention and control measures.

To date, the deadly bird flu has infected 102 people in China and killed 20 of them,while 40 poultry samples have been tested H7N9-positive by the national bird flureference lab, according to official data. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8218159.html?

However, the experts said they need to run more tests

No evidence of human-to-human transmission: H7N9 experts panel

2013-04-23 00:13:09

SHANGHAI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- No evidence has been found showing the H7N9 avian flu strain can be transmitted through human-to-human contacts, a panel of Chinese and World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Monday.

However, the experts said they need to run more tests.

"Our knowledge of H7N9 bird flu is very limited right now. We must do more sensitive and more extensive monitoring to determine the origins and variations of the virus," said Yang Weizhong, deputy director with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Yang is co-head of the expert panel.

The panel believes it is not yet the time to make vaccines for the new type of bird flu that has killed 21 people in China.

"We will continue to ask ourself over and over again but right now there is no need to do that," said WHO Assistant Secretary-General Keiji Fukuda.

The experts said Shanghai has been open and transparent to the panel's investigation, and the government's responses to H7N9 avian flu have been timely and effective. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-04/23/c_124615990.htm

Many mild bird flu cases ‘undetected’

A study by the University of Hong Kong estimates that at least 100 mild infections of H7N9 bird flu have gone undetected in adults on the mainland. The university researchers made their estimate after analysing the age distribution of patients and the pattern of exposure to chickens on the mainland. “Until the source of infection has been identified, it is expected that there will be further cases of human infection with the virus in China,” a spokesman for the World Health Organization said In a statement. Metro and agencies http://www.metrohk.com.hk/index.php?cmd=detail&id=209481

Zhejiang new cases of human infection of H7N9 avian influenza cases are mild

　People's Daily, Beijing, April 22 (Reporter Li Nannan) According to today's Morning news, the Zhejiang Provincial Health Bulletin, as of April 22 at 15:00, the new two cases of human infection with the H7N9 avian influenza. Patients Yemou, female, 54 years old, company employees, Hangzhou. Patients Liu, male, 32 years old, farmers, and now lives in Huzhou. Currently, two patients are mild, the hospital is under active treatment. 　　In the morning of April 22, Zhejiang Province, April 17 patients diagnosed Zhang (male, 41 years old, cadres, Huzhou) Treatment and Rehabilitation discharged.http://health.sohu.com/20130422/n373593111.shtml

China says new bird flu case found in northeastern China

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:11 GMT

Source: Reuters // Reuters

BEIJING, April 22 (Reuters) - A man in the northeastern Chinese province of Shandong has been infected by a new strain of bird flu, the first case found in the province, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday, bringing the total number of infected victims in China to 105.

The H7N9 virus has killed 20 people in China. But it is not clear how people are becoming infected and the World Health Organization (WHO) says there is no evidence of the most worrying scenario - sustained transmission between people.

A 36-year-old man from the city of Zaozhuang in Shandong was being treated in hospital, while two more people were infected in eastern Zhejiang province, Xinhua said.

A total of nine people in close contact with the victim in Shandong were under observation but had shown no signs of infection, Xinhua said.

An international team of experts led by the WHO carried out field investigations into Shanghai's response to the virus, said Keiji Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general for health, security and the environment.

Many of the cases had occurred in the commercial capital of Shanghai.

"Right now we are in the middle of our work. We have not come up with any final conclusions, and I think it is too early to say," Fukuda told reporters.

The WHO's China representative, Michael O'Leary, issued data on Friday showing that half of the patients analysed had no known contact with poultry, the most obvious potential source, but he said it appeared human-to-human transmission was rare.

Some bird samples have tested positive and China has culled thousands of birds and shut down some live poultry markets. (Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee in Beijing and Adam Jourdan in Shanghai; Editing by Nick Macfie) http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/china-says-new-bird-flu-case-found-in-northeastern-china?

Shandong found the first case of human infection with the H7N9 avian influenza suspected cases

Shandong is the first case of human infection of H7N9 avian influenza suspected cases] the reporter learned from the Shandong Provincial Health Department, Shandong Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory confirmed case of human infection of H7N9 avian influenza suspected cases. Cases from Zaozhuang, a 36-year-old male patient. Shandong Province found the first case of human infection with the H7N9 avian influenza suspected cases.http://news.qq.com/a/20130422/001422.htm

No 'sustained' human-to-human transmission of bird flu: WHO

April 22, 2013 12:03 PM

Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment of World Health Organization, answers a question during the press conference in Shanghai, China Monday, April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

SHANGHAI, China: A World Health Organisation official reiterated Monday there is still no evidence that a new strain of deadly bird flu is passing in a "sustained" fashion from person to person, despite fears some family members may have infected one another.
"Right now we do not see evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission", Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general for health security and environment, said at a press conference.
He added, however, that officials "are always worried whether there could be person-to-person transmission".
Chinese health officials have acknowledged so-called "family clusters", where members of a single family have become infected, but have so far declined to put it down to human-to-human transmission.
Commenting on the clusters, Fukuda said that, based on available evidence, "it is not clear why we have these cases".
He said families where more than one person has contracted the virus may have caught it from animals, the environment or one another.
Health experts differentiate between "sustained" human-to-human transmission and cases in which family members or medical personnel caring for the ill become infected.
Fukuda spoke as a WHO team wrapped up a visit to Shanghai, the centre of the country's bird flu outbreak that has killed 20 people, as part of an investigation into how the H7N9 virus is spreading.
Since announcing on March 31 that the virus had been discovered in humans for the first time, China's health ministry on Sunday confirmed a total of 102 cases, in Shanghai, the capital Beijing and four provinces.
"There has been no discovery of evidence of human-to-human transmission," the ministry said in a statement.
Experts fear the prospect of such a virus mutating into a form easily transmissible between humans, which could then have the potential to trigger a pandemic.
The WHO's representative in China, Michael O'Leary, said Friday that the purpose of the 15-member team's week-long visit was to study whether H7N9 was spreading among humans.
"The primary focus of the investigation is to determine whether this is in fact spreading at a lower level among humans. But there is no evidence for that so far except in these very rare instances," O'Leary said.
The son of a man who was Shanghai's first case of H7N9 was confirmed to have contracted the virus after an initial test ruled it out, Chinese officials said last week.
The Shanghai government also said the husband of a woman confirmed with the virus had become sick with H7N9, but added there was not enough evidence to verify transmission between them.
"Family clusters in general do not change our understanding of the characteristics of the disease," said Feng Zijian, an official of China's disease control centre.
"It is still passed from poultry to people and there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission," he said on Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Health/2013/Apr-22/214627-no-sustained-human-to-human-transmission-of-bird-flu-who.ashx#ixzz2RBlLVUiP

90-120 cases undetected

(04-22 12:52)

The severity of the new H7N9 bird flu increases with age, the Hong Kong University Public Health Research Centre and Centre for Influenza Research.
A search by the centre suggested that 90 to 120 cases of human infection are not detected, said Gabriel Leung Cheuk-wai, head of the department of community medicine at HKU.
He urged tougher tests and inspections on food chain. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=35105

H7N9 Cases May Be Double Known Figure, Hong Kong Researchers Say

H7N9 bird flu may have infected twice as many people as the 103 cases reported, an analysis by researchers at the University of Hong Kong showed.

There may be 90 to 120 ill adults who haven’t been detected because their infections are mild, Benjamin Cowling, associate professor at the university’s public health research center, said today. The researchers’ analysis suggests risk of serious illness from the virus rises substantially with age, with more than half of reported cases age 60 or older, he said.

Flu specialists including those from the World Health Organization are investigating how people are catching the H7N9 virus, with no evidence yet of sustained human-to-human transmission. Disease trackers haven’t been able to figure out why another deadly bird flu strain known as H5N1 afflicts mostly younger people in their 20s and 30s, while H7N9 mainly targets the elderly.

“One thing that is very striking is the age distribution of the cases,” Cowling said at a briefing at the university’s medical school today. “They’re very different from the confirmed infections of H5N1.”

The estimates were derived from a model using publicly available data, said Gabriel Leung, director of the university’s public health center. Further studies will be conducted, the researchers said.

The WHO is still assessing the H7N9 outbreak and investigations haven’t proved any transmission from person to person, Keiji Fukuda, the Geneva-based agency’s assistant director-general for health security and environment, said at a briefing in Shanghai today.

Twenty people have died among the 103 H7N9 cases reported by China. A majority of the patients are in eastern China, with Shanghai and Zhejiang province having the most cases among regions there. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-22/h7n9-cases-may-be-double-known-figure-hong-kong-researchers-say.html?

How Chinese bird flu infects humans still mystery

BEIJING (AP) — Almost three weeks after China reported finding a new strain of bird flu in humans, experts are still stumped by how people are becoming infected when many appear to have had no recent contact with live fowl and the virus seemingly isn't passing from person to person.

The uncertainty adds to challenges the Chinese government is facing in trying to control the spread of the H7N9 bird flu virus that has already killed 17 people and infected 70 others in the country, mostly along the eastern seaboard.

"To me, the biggest question is the link between the virus in birds and how it gets to humans. This is not clear," said Dr. Bai Chunxue, a prominent respiratory expert in Shanghai who treated one of the first cases of the virus, a family cluster involving an 87-year-old man and his two sons. Bai said other family members he talked to said the patients had no contact with birds or poultry.

"So this is indeed a mystery," Bai said in a telephone interview.

Theories about how the virus may be spreading run from the ways poultry is slaughtered in markets to infected droppings from migratory birds.

Understanding how the H7N9 bird flu virus is spreading is a goal of international and Chinese experts assembled by the World Health Organization as they begin a weeklong investigation Friday.

Helen Yu, the World Health Organization's spokeswoman in China, said the experts, who started arriving Thursday, will visit laboratories and affected areas in Beijing and Shanghai.

China announced the first known cases on March 31, sparking concern worldwide because it was the first time the H7N9 strain of bird flu has been known to infect humans. Experts fear the virus could mutate in a way that allows it to spread easily among people, but so far there has been no sign of sustained human-to-human transmission.

Chinese health officials have said people may be getting sick from direct contact with infected live birds, pointing to cases of patients who have been working in the poultry trade. The virus has been detected in live poultry, leading to mass slaughters and closures of live fowl markets.

However, as China continues to report new cases, about 40 percent of patients have no apparent history of exposure to poultry or other birds, making the virus "very difficult to understand," said Dr. Masato Tashiro, director of WHO's influenza research center in Tokyo.

Tashiro noted that proof of the assertion that contact with birds is causing the cases is missing. "They didn't show any direct evidence. That's only speculation still. It's possible, likely, but there's no evidence," he said.

A leading Chinese official in the government's bird flu emergency response effort, Feng Zijian, said there are difficulties in gathering reliable evidence of how much contact, if any, patients have had with birds. Patients don't always have clear recollections of their activities, he said, while in some cases, doctors have had to rely on secondhand accounts from relatives when patients were too severely ill to answer questions.

Authorities believe that patients who live in cities are most likely to have been exposed to the virus at live poultry markets where birds are slaughtered upon purchase, said Feng, director of the emergency response center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a briefing with Chinese reporters Wednesday, Feng cited as an example of a potential infection source the machines Chinese poultry sellers commonly use to remove feathers from chickens. The birds are dipped into hot water in tubs that spin at high speeds, and liquid particles containing the virus could be dispersed in a spray, he said.

"If there is a virus, it can be easily inhaled this way," Feng said. "This is what we suspect to be a major environmental exposure that causes human infections."

Migratory birds flying north over people's homes and gardens could also be spreading the virus through their droppings, said David Hui, an infectious diseases expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "People can still get exposed to the fecal material with viruses without noticing it or without direct contact with poultry or wild birds themselves," Hui said.

___

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220163/how-chinese-bird-flu-infects-humans-still-mystery

Sunday, 21 April, 2013

Thailand--Temperature reading to spot H7N9 flu virus 'unnecessary'

Temperature reading to spot H7N9 flu virus 'unnecessary'

April 22, 2013 1:00 am

Strict screening of people for the H7N9 virus using body temperature detectors is unwarranted as there is no clear evidence that this type of bird flu can be transmitted from human to human, the Public Health Ministry said yesterday.

"So far, there's no report about the spread of H7N9 influenza in Thailand," Public Health Minister Pradith Sinthawanarong said.

Health officials and community medical volunteers nationwide have been instructed to conduct surveys to find anyone infected among travellers returning from trips abroad.

The officials have also been assigned to monitor the deaths of poultry across the country. The public is also asked to report any suspicious deaths of chicken or poultry. 

Medical workers have been put on standby while antiviral drugs, both oral and injectable, are being prepared. Laboratories are now capable of detecting the virus and rapid response teams are ready to be dispatched to control and prevent the spread of the deadly virus. 

"Medical workers are suggested to keep a close eye on patients with severe pneumonia," Pradith said. 

Citing a meeting between the World Health Organisation and the ministry, he said the World Organisation for Animal Health reported on April 16 that it had discovered the H7N9-type virus in poultry bought from fresh markets in China's Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces but no symptoms of illness had appeared in the fowl. 

Even though the number of people contracting H7N9 is still increasing, local health experts have not recommended authorities to beef up measures to catch people infected with the bird flu virus. 
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Temperature-reading-to-spot-H7N9-flu-virus-unneces-30204461.html

Guangxi Nanning, the first case of H7N9 patients "is a rumor

The health department said in Guangxi Nanning, the first case of H7N9 patients "is a rumor

April 21 (Reporter Zhang Ying) the morning of the 20th, Guangxi local network spread a post called "Nanning is the first case of H7N9 patients. In this regard, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Health Department responded that rumor.

　　The regional health department Emergency Management Office, responsible person, at 12 o'clock on the April 20, Guangxi have not yet found of human infection with the H7N9 avian influenza. Given the current flu-prone season in the spring of respiratory diseases, the regional health department prompted the masses still need to do their own precautions to pay attention to personal hygiene, keep the environment clean, always open the window ventilation, wash their hands good rest, do not eat, do not sell , not dead poultry, cough, fever should seek immediate medical attention. http://www.kaixian.tv/R1/n1985046c6.shtml

Japan to test H7N9 on monkeys, mice and ferrets

The day will start from the H7N9 virus contagious Research

2013-04-21 16:55

According to "Japanese Economic News" reported on April 19, the University of Tokyo, Japan, and independent administrative Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) jointly launched the study of the H7N9 avian influenza virus is contagious and reproductive capacity. The two agencies will take advantage of Japan's National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) to analyze virus from China.

　　In the study, the monkeys to have kinship ferret, weasel, mice infected with the virus in this study based on whether the virus is spread through the air, which parts of the virus in the animal breeding, whether there will be issues such as variation. In addition to monkeys infected with pneumonia case to investigate the pathogenicity of the virus, mice studies will confirm the existing antiviral whether effective. Detailed identification of the reaction and showed symptoms of the virus in infected animals, contribute to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of avian influenza.

　　In addition, Hokkaido University will be able to reduce infectious substances "monoclonal antibody" to expand the research. The University had teamed up with the JST, has trained about 300 species according to the type of virus antibodies.Allegedly 13 possible H7N9 type, new inspection equipment and the treatment of drug development is expected to progress.

　　Tokushima University of Arts and the University of Tokushima is developing diagnostic techniques aimed at first time found infected, and will strive to the technology as a new way of screening and diagnosis, to combat the H7N9 virus. http://news.xinmin.cn/world/bjtj/2013/04/21/19856218.html

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China confirms 102 H7N9 cases, 21 deaths

Updated: 2013-04-21 20:28

A total of 102 cases of human H7N9 avian influenza, including 21 deaths, have been reported as of 3:00 pm Sunday, said China Central Television.

Of the total, 33 cases, including 11 that have ended in death, have been reported in Shanghai. Twenty-three cases, including four deaths, have been reported in Jiangsu province, and 38 cases, including five deaths, in Zhejiang province.Anhui province has reported three cases, with one death. Beijing and Hunan have each reported one case. Three have been reported in Henan province. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-04/21/content_16429193.htm