Click to Translate to English Click to Translate to French  Click to Translate to Spanish  Click to Translate to German  Click to Translate to Italian  Click to Translate to Japanese  Click to Translate to Chinese Simplified  Click to Translate to Korean  Click to Translate to Arabic  Click to Translate to Russian  Click to Translate to Portuguese  Click to Translate to Myanmar (Burmese)

PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL
123456
Forum Home Forum Home > New emerging Diseases / Flu Tracking > Avian Flu
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - two additional H7N9
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Now tracking the new emerging South Africa Omicron Variant

two additional H7N9

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
arirish View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: June 19 2013
Location: Arkansas
Status: Offline
Points: 39215
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arirish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: two additional H7N9
    Posted: February 23 2017 at 6:40am

China reports two additional H7N9 avian influenza cases in Sichuan Province


by   Robert Herriman

The Health and Family Planning Commission of Sichuan Province reported two additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) in Guang’an.

The two patients had live poultry exposure before onset.

This brings the total human cases reported in Sichuan Province to eight since human infections were first reported on 2013.

According to the Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP), as of Feb. 20, there has been 1227 total human cases since 2013, primarily in China.

Avian influenza is caused by those influenza viruses that mainly affect birds and poultry, such as chickens or ducks. Clinical presentation of avian influenza in humans includes eye infection (conjunctivitis), flu-like symptoms (e.g. fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches) or severe respiratory illness (e.g. chest infection). The incubation period ranges from 7 to 10 days. The more virulent forms can result in respiratory failure, multi-organ failure and even death.

People mainly become infected with avian influenza through close contact with infected birds and poultry (live or dead) or their droppings. Human-to-human transmission is inefficient. People in close contact with poultry are more susceptible to contracting avian flu. The elderly, children and people with chronic illness have a higher risk of developing complications such as bronchitis and chest infection.

http://outbreaknewstoday.com/china-reports-two-additional-h7n9-avian-influenza-cases-sichuan-province-30702/
Buy more ammo!
Back to Top
jacksdad View Drop Down
Executive Admin
Executive Admin
Avatar

Joined: September 08 2007
Location: San Diego
Status: Offline
Points: 47251
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 23 2017 at 8:18am
After reading an article detailing what looked to be a token attempt by Guangdong's authorities to stop the spread of H7N9 by briefly closing two markets, I decided to do a little more digging.
Fortunately, it seems that other provinces are being more decisive in their response - Zhejiang province went as far as to close all markets until further notice on February 11th. Interestingly though, despite Sichuan closing 280 market stalls in one city after four confirmed cases, the new cases you mentioned still showed up in the province.

I understand their cultural significance, but the live poultry markets are obviously spreading H7N9 and allowing it to mix not only with a variety of species, but with other viruses too. Closing them only when it's presence is confirmed by people becoming sick or tests on poultry coming up positive, clearly isn't working this time around. If this goes pandemic because the authorities didn't do enough to stop it, China had better not start bleating about their name being tagged on to it. The Spanish got a bad rap in 1918 for being the first to report the presence of H1N1, but calling a pandemic strain of H7N9 "Chinese Flu" will only be giving it's creators full credit for all the hard work they've put into spawning it over the past few years.


"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary.
Back to Top
arirish View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: June 19 2013
Location: Arkansas
Status: Offline
Points: 39215
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arirish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 23 2017 at 9:07am
JD - Amen to that!

China’s H7N9 bird flu measures came too late, experts say

Attempts by Chinese authorities to curb the H7N9 bird flu virus in live poultry markets came too late, with officials failing to take ­preventative steps before the peak flu season started, medical ­experts say.

Mainland China is in the grip of the worst outbreak of the H7N9 strain since it first emerged in the country in 2013.

The death toll for January alone was 79, higher than the few dozen fatalities ­recorded during the month in previous years. At least eight more deaths were recorded in the first 12 days of this month.

The experts believe the spike was partly caused by greater human exposure to infected poultry before and during the Lunar New Year holiday, as the season prompted more shopping for poultry, especially live birds.

The H7N9 virus shows little or no clinical symptoms in poultry, complicating detection. But authorities should have stepped up their surveillance going into the peak season, the experts said.

“Work should be done even before the first human case is found each year,” Professor Malik Peiris, a public health virologist at the University of Hong Kong, said.

“Local governments should step up in regulating farm and market inspection, instead of only reacting by closing down markets once cases are detected.”

Peiris doubted whether all provincial governments had ­carried out strict, regular checks of local live poultry markets, which he said was the most effective way to prevent human infection.

The response at the local level to the outbreak has varied. ­Zhejiang has shut down its live poultry markets, while cities in Jiangsu have also suspended sales. Guangdong has suspended the sale of poultry from high-risk areas and ordered each city to restrict the trade.

Dr Bernhard Schwartlander, the World Health Organisation’s representative in China, said the outbreak had come earlier this year, marked by “a steep increase” in the number of human ­infections.

Schwartlander said the closure of live bird markets, together with other measures to maintain market hygiene, appeared to have been a key factor in controlling previous outbreaks.

Gao Fu, a professor at the Institute of Microbiology affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said authorities had lowered their guard after the last two years when outbreaks were less severe.

“The measures needed to prevent [the spread of] bird flu are quite clear: shut down live poultry markets,” Gao said.

“We have advocated permanent closure of live poultry markets and for only quarantined chicken to be traded, but the ­enforcement is lagging.”

Mutations of the virus have been reported in Guangdong. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has ­informed the WHO that the mutation was found in samples collected from two patients in the province last month.

The WHO believes the mutation is only a risk to poultry and there was no evidence the change had allowed the virus to spread more easily among people, Schwartlander said.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2073287/chinas-h7n9-bird-flu-measures-came-too-late-experts-say
Buy more ammo!
Back to Top
jacksdad View Drop Down
Executive Admin
Executive Admin
Avatar

Joined: September 08 2007
Location: San Diego
Status: Offline
Points: 47251
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 23 2017 at 4:33pm
Great find, arirish. I hadn't seen that article, but completely agree with the sentiments echoed in it Thumbs Up


"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down