China H7N9 total grows by eight; studies detail virus mutations
CHINA - Reflecting continued slow decline of H7N9 avian flu cases in China, eight new illnesses were reported this week, as research teams from the country published new studies that provide an early glimpse of the epidemiology and clinical features of the highly pathogenic variant that recently emerged in poultry and is also infecting people.
5 June 2017
2 minute read
By: New H7N9 cases
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) reports that eight latest H7N9 cases from China noted last week (2 June) in a regular update from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) are down slightly from nine cases reported last week. Among the new batch of illnesses, six patients had known exposure to poultry, poultry markets, or mobile stalls. No deaths were reported.
All of the sick people are adults with illness onsets ranging from 12 May to 29 May, and five are men.
The patients are from seven different provinces that make up a broad geographic area, which with late-season northward spread has been a unique feature of China's fifth and biggest wave of H7N9 activity, which began in October and is still under way. Affected provinces are Shandong, Anhui, Guangxi, Hebei, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Sichuan.
