Bird flu cases rise to 64, and 14 deaths

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Symptom-Free Bird Flu Case Suggests Wider H7N9 Spread
Bird flu was found in a 4-year-old
Beijing boy who has no symptoms of the infection, health
authorities said, suggesting more people may be catching the
H7N9 influenza virus than reported. 
The first asymptomatic H7N9 case was discovered by health-
care workers searching for possible cases, the Beijing Municipal
Health Bureau said in a statement on its website today. The
boy's parents are poultry and fish sellers, and their neighbors
across the street had bought chicken sold by the family of a 7-
year-old girl whose H7N9 infection was reported two days ago. 
The boy is under medical observation. The case suggests
some H7N9 infections may be going unrecorded because of a lack
of obvious symptoms. Almost all of the 64 people diagnosed with
the virus so far have been extremely unwell, with complications
extending to brain damage, multi-organ failure and muscle
breakdown. 
"With asymptomatic cases around, I think everything
changes," said Ian Mackay, an associate professor of clinical
virology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, in a
telephone interview today. "There has been a spike in pneumonia
cases that have drawn the health officials' attention, but the
virus may have been going around as a normal cold." 
The boy's infection was picked up as part of contact
tracing -- a process whereby relatives, neighbors and others
known to have been in contact with a confirmed case are screened
for the virus. The boy was one of 24 people tested in connection
with the 7-year-old girl's infection. 
Sick or Not? 
"It's great that the authorities are showing some evidence
of prospective screening of contacts, not just asking people if
they are sick or not," Mackay said. "It's essential that lab
testing of contacts is carried out as soon as possible to give
us some information about the denominator: how many cases are
positive for this virus, whether they’re symptomatic or not." 
The parents of the 7-year-old patient live and sell poultry
in the Shunyi district of northeast Beijing. Her case was the
first in northern China, demonstrating that the virus is
circulating across much of the country’s east. 
The girl is recovering after treatment at Beijing Ditan
Hospital Capital Medical University, the official Xinhua News
Agency reported yesterday, citing the city’s disease control and
prevention center. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-15/symptom-free-bird-flu-case-suggests-wider-h7n9-spread.html