Source: Xinhua News Agency [edited]
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-03/31/c_132274381.htm
Three cases of human infection with H7N9
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BEIJING: Avian influenza has been detected recently in [humans in] Shanghai and Anhui Province, and two of them have died, the other being in a critical condition, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said Sunday [31 Mar 2013].
The victims include an 87-year-old male in Shanghai who got sick on 19 Feb 2013 and died on 4 Mar 2013, a 27-year-old male in Shanghai who became ill on 27 Feb 2013 and died on 10 Mar 2013 and a 35-year-old female in Chuzhou City (Anhui province who became ill on 9 Mar 2013 and is now in a critical condition. They all showed initial symptoms of fever and coughs which developed into severe pneumonia and difficult breathing in later stages, according to the
report.
On Saturday [30 Mar 2013], the three cases were confirmed to be human infections with H7N9 avian influenza by an expert team summoned by the health and family planning commission, based on clinical observation, laboratory tests and epidemiological surveys. On Friday [29 Mar 2013], the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Preservation[isolated] the H7N9 bird flu virus from [tissue] samples from these patients. So far, the commission said, it is unclear how the three became infected, and no mutual infections [contacts] were discovered among them. Besides, no abnormalities were detected among 88 of their close contacts.
The subtype of H7N9 avian influenza virus virus has not been contracted [by] human beings [previously]. The virus shows no signs of being highly contagious among humans, according to the clinical observation on the cases' close contacts. However, as only three cases of human infection of H7N9 have been found, relatively little research has been done undertaken. The expert team is working to study the toxicity and human-infection capacity of the virus, according
to the commission.
There are no vaccines against the H7N9 bird flu virus either at home or abroad.
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Communicated by:
Mark Liao
UC Davis School of Medicine
California, USA
Class of 2015
****
[2]
Date: Sun 31 Mar 2013
Source: USA Today, Associated Press report [edited]
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/31/bird-flu-deaths-china/2039551/
First two known-known deaths from H7N9 bird flu
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BEIJING: Two Shanghai men have died from a little-known type of bird flu in the first known human deaths from the strain. Chinese authorities said Sunday [31 Mar 2013] that it wasn't clear how the men were infected, but that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. A third person, a woman in the nearby province of Anhui, also contracted the H7N9 strain of bird flu and was in critical condition, China's National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a report on its website. There was no sign that any of the three had contracted the disease from each other, and no sign of infection in the 88 people who had closest contact with them, the medical agency said. H7N9 bird flu is considered a low pathogenic strain that cannot easily be contracted by humans. The overwhelming majority of human deaths from avian influenza have been caused by the H5N1 strain.
One of the two men from Shanghai, who was 87, became ill on 19 Feb 2013 and died on 27 Feb 2013. The other man, 27 years old, became ill on 27 Feb 2013 and died on 4 mar 2913, the agency said. The 35-year-old woman in the Anhui city became ill on 9 Mar 2013 and is being treated. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted tests and confirmed on Saturday that all three cases were H7N9 [infections], the health agency said, adding that the World Health Organization had been notified of the findings.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Kunihiko Iizuka
****
Communicated by:
Gert van der Hoek
[Two of the first three known human case of the relatively rare avian H7H9 serotype avian influenza A virus have died. The condition of the third patient has not been disclosed. The three cases are unrelated, of different ages, and not known to have any predisposing medical conditions. The two fatal cases were resident in Shanghai and the surviving case is resident in Chuzhou City, Anhui Province. None of the immediate contacts of theses patients have contracted the infection. The extent of the three victims contact with diseased or normal poultry is not revealed, nor any contact with wild birds.
While these facts do not indicate any imminent threat of a human epidemic, the situation is novel and alarming, particularly as the human population has not been exposed to influenza viruses of H7 or N9 antigenicity in the past, and can bassumed to have no innate immunity. Further information is awaited.
A map of China showing the locations of Shanghai and Anhui province ca be accessed at:
http://www.sacu.org/provmap.html. - Mod.CP] http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20130331.1612370
