H7N9 Virus Update Report

Update Report about H7N9 in East China
Based on Xinhua News Report on 7th April: three major cities in China have suspended trade in live poultry while the rest of the country remains on edge after 18 cases of H7N9 in humans have been reported in East China.

On Saturday, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou placed bans on the sale and trade of live poultry, city officials said. Two new cases of the bird-flu strain were reported in Shanghai, bringing the total of confirmed cases in the city to eight as of 7 pm, and the number nationwide to 18. Elsewhere, six cases were reported in Jiangsu province, three in Zhejiang and one in Anhui.
A total of six people have died, four in Shanghai and two in Zhejiang province.


Chinese health authorities said that all confirmed cases involved diseased poultry and that there has been no sign of human-to-human transmission.

On Saturday, Shanghai banned live poultry from other parts of the country from entering the city and began mass slaughter of birds after H7N9 was found in pigeon samples from a farm-product market in the city's Songjiang district.

Health authorities in Jiangsu said on Saturday that five confirmed H7N9 patients are in serious condition and under treatment. The 104 people who are known to have had close contact with the five H7N9 patients in Nanjing are showing no flu symptoms, such as cough, runny nose and sore throat. Sixty-four of them have already been released from medical observation, Nanjing officials said.

Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, suspended trades at one poultry market after traces of H7N9 were detected in quails sold in the market.

Treatment:
And in the morning of 7th April, China has approved a new type of flu drug that it believes may be effective in treating H7N9 bird flu virus.

According to a statement issued by the China Food and Drug Administration on Saturday, the potential of injections of peramivir diluted in sodium chloride injection has been proven by preliminary tests.


Our service during your trip in China:
There are just 18 infections out of 130 million Chinese people, and the government has strictly controlled the diseased poultry. Besides Shanghai, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, China is quite safe for tourists.
Even in Shanghai and Zhejiang, the professional tour guides from Discover China Tours will take good care of you and keep the virus away during the trip. The food will be carefully selected (vegetarian diet is highly recommended).
The scenery spots are far away from the poultry market.
All the hotels we arranged are qualified, and we are sure you that the environment is hygeian and healthy.

Voice from WHO:
In the past few weeks, WHO has received from China reports of human infection with influenza A (H7N9) virus. The influenza A (H7N9) virus is one subgroup among the larger group of H7 viruses, which normally circulate among birds.

Human infections with other subgroups of H7 influenza viruses (H7N2, H7N3, and H7N7) have previously been reported in the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, United States of America, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Most of these infections occurred in association with poultry outbreaks. The infections mainly resulted in conjunctivitis and mild upper respiratory symptoms, with the exception of one death, which occurred in the Netherlands.

Epidemiology

The reported laboratory-confirmed cases have come from several different provinces in eastern China and are not known to be linked. All patients so far have been severely ill, and 6 of them have died (for the latest information on cases and outcomes).

The source of infection and the mode of transmission are currently unknown. No association with outbreaks of disease among animals or clear exposure to animals has been established. Some of the confirmed cases had contact with animals or with environments in which animals were located. The virus has been found in a pigeon in a market in Shanghai. The possibility of animal-to-human transmission is being investigated.

 WHO is in contact with national authorities and is following the event closely. The WHO-coordinated international response is also focusing on work with WHO Collaborating Centres for Reference and Research on Influenza and other partners to ensure that information is available and that materials are developed for diagnosis and treatment and vaccine development. No vaccine is currently available for this subtype of the influenza virus. Preliminary test results provided by the WHO Collaborating Centre in China suggest that the virus is susceptible to the neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir and zanamivir).

At this time there is no evidence of ongoing human-to-human transmission.

WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event, nor does it recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied.

More details please click WHO website http://www.who.int/csr/don/2013_04_07/en/index.html