I believe the latest reported case was from Northern China, which is a first.  Either way, when the temps drop, it's going to undoubtedly ignite.

Swedish experts warn of new global bird flu virus

"The virus seems new to mankind. The entire world's population could be affected if it gains momentum," said Annika Linde at Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control (Smittskyddsinstitutet - SMI) to Sveriges Radio.

The newly discovered flu virus H7N9 in China is a variant of the bird flu, and the first infectious cases became known this year. The virus is known to cause severe respiratory infections.

The virus carries with it a high mortality rate among those infected by the H7N9 virus. At least 43 of the more than 130 infected have died so far, according to WHO statistics.

The mortality rate is far lower than that of the H5N1 virus a decade ago, but higher than the H1N1 that raged from 2009 to 2010.

Annika Linde warned in an article in the esteemed medical journal The Lancet a month ago that the H7N9 bird flu could reinvigorate this autumn and begin to spread worldwide.

http://www.thelocal.se/49144/20130719/

Margaret Chan cover up?? And WHO hyping MERS?? I don't agree

It's the mutation rate of H7N9 which is 8 times the normal mutation rate of the average flu virus that makes it worrisome.

cobber wrote: Albert, where is these figure of 1500 - 20,000 H7 cases coming from? It seem very high. Is there are some crediable sources backing this up?

A report in The Lancet (a leading British medical journal)

eg one report on this

" aving such a plan may be critical during the coming flu season. In an analysis published in the Lancet journal, researchers from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing and from the University of Hong Kong reported that H7N9 infection was fatal in about a third of cases that are severe enough to require hospitalization. The H5N1 avian virus that caused a worldwide pandemic in 2003 had a 60% fatality risk for those hospitalized, while the more recent H1N1 flu was associated with a 21% risk of death for those seeking hospital care.

The scientists based their H7N9 estimate on the number of people treated at hospitals throughout China, as well as information from their surveillance networks that monitor the volume of cases. Overall, they say that up to 3% of all people who became infected were at risk of dying from H7N9.

....

“The mo[st] relevant finding, regarding implications for the coming fall-winter, is that the clinical iceberg phenomenon that is common … of most flu viruses applies to H7N9 as well. We estimated that between 1,500 and 27,000 symptomatic infections might have occurred in China, compared to the 132 laboratory-confirmed cases,” says Leung."

"

It's also worth noting that once winter arrives, h7n9 will be able still stick to surfaces for several days.  I believe, but not 100% sure, that at 32 degrees h7 can stick to surfaces for approximately 1 week with no degradation.  

Both MERS and H7N9 are far from being over.  We're better off enjoying this summer as we never know when the crud could hit the fan as they say - and life as we know it may change. 

Albert, that's an interesting fact about H7 viruses being able to survive on surfaces. 

an assessment of clinical severity
The Lancet, Volume 382, Issue 9887, Pages 138-145
Hongjie Yu, Benjamin J Cowling, Luzhao Feng, Eric HY Lau, Qiaohong Liao, Tim K Tsang, Zhibin Peng, Peng Wu, Fengfeng Liu, Vicky J Fang
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Abstract

Summary

Background

Characterisation of the severity profile of human infections with influenza viruses of animal origin is a part of pandemic risk assessment, and an important part of the assessment of disease epidemiology. Our objective was to assess the clinical severity of human infections with avian influenza A H7N9 virus, which emerged in China in early 2013.



Methods

We obtained information about laboratory-confirmed cases of avian influenza A H7N9 virus infection reported as of May 28, 2013, from an integrated database built by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. We estimated the risk of fatality, mechanical ventilation, and admission to the intensive care unit for patients who required hospital admission for medical reasons. We also used information about laboratory-confirmed cases detected through sentinel influenza-like illness surveillance to estimate the symptomatic case fatality risk.



Findings

Of 123 patients with laboratory-confirmed avian influenza A H7N9 virus infection who were admitted to hospital, 37 (30%) had died and 69 (56%) had recovered by May 28, 2013. After we accounted for incomplete data for 17 patients who were still in hospital, we estimated the fatality risk for all ages to be 36% (95% CI 26–45) on admission to hospital. Risks of mechanical ventilation or fatality (69%, 95% CI 60–77) and of admission to an intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation, or fatality (83%, 76–90) were high. With assumptions about coverage of the sentinel surveillance network and health-care-seeking behaviour for patients with influenza-like illness associated with influenza A H7N9 virus infection, and pro-rata extrapolation, we estimated that the symptomatic case fatality risk could be between 160 (63–460) and 2800 (1000–9400) per 100 000 symptomatic cases.



Interpretation

Human infections with avian influenza A H7N9 virus seem to be less serious than has been previously reported. Many mild cases might already have occurred. Continued vigilance and sustained intensive control efforts are needed to minimise the risk of human infection.



Funding

Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology; Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Disease; Hong Kong University Grants Committee; China–US Collaborative Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases; Harvard Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics; US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease; and the US National Institutes of Health.