New bird flu variant emerging from China - H7N9 - No human immunity so far

[damian_steele]

OK, so I guess we all remember the last bird flu outbreak and most people think that there was a lot of fuss over nothing. The H5N1 strain didn't turn out to be the mass killing pandemic strain that so many experts feared at the time and it wasn't as deadly as been previously thought.

However, this new strain has spread extremely rapidly throughout China. It is infecting the very young right through to the very old - suggesting that there is no natural human resistance to it - and has a death rate of around fifteen to twenty percent of those infected.

Medical experts are not yet certain that it will cause problems on a global scale, but the disease is already showing two of the five mutations necessary to become a significant threat by becoming transmissable from human to human. The speed of these changes has alarmed some experts and they are now asking medical staff in other countries to watch out for people returning from China that may show symptoms of flu.

Those who are of a mind to make preparations may wish to consider doing so.

More on this story.

[damian_steele]

Reports are coming through of the first case of human-to-human transmission.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/...human-to-human

[damian_steele]

Shenzhen man in critical condition with H7N9


A 38-year-old man has been hospitalized in the Chinese city of Shenzhen with H7N9 avian flu, the fourth such case from Guangdong province in the last several days, authorities announced today.

The man got sick with a fever and cough on Dec 9 and was seen at a local clinic and hospital, according to a statement today from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP). His respiratory samples tested positive for the virus at the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control on Dec 17, and Guangdong health officials confirmed the findings the next day.

He is hospitalized in critical condition. The man is the first known H7N9 case from Shenzhen, though two patients from the city were recently diagnosed and treated for H7N9 infections after arriving in Hong Kong. The detection of the virus in three environmental samples led to the temporary closure of live-poultry markets in one of Shenzhen's districts.

Over the past week or so, three other H7N9 patients have been confirmed in Guangdong province: a 63-year-old man and 65-year-old woman from Yangjiang and a 36-year-old man from Dongguan.

The new case from China would lift the global total from the novel virus to 146 cases, which includes 45 deaths.

MORE: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-persp...condition-h7n9


It's still out there and still spreading.

[billsstamps]

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h7n9-virus.htm

4 possible human to human transmissions out of about 140 altogether, all in China.

It will be on the decline after the end of February because of the normal cycle of such viruses.

I will not lose any sleep over H7N9 when I am Hong Kong next month

[damian_steele]

I will not lose any sleep over H7N9 when I am Hong Kong next month

That's OK, just don't bring it back with you. Traveler transfered infections are something that the CD are concerned about. From the link you supplied:

"It’s likely that sporadic cases of H7N9 associated with poultry exposure will continue to occur in China. Cases associated with poultry exposure also may be detected in neighboring countries. It’s also possible that H7N9 may be detected in the United States at some point, possibly in a traveler returning from an affected area. Most concerning about this situation is the pandemic potential of this virus. Influenza viruses constantly change and it’s possible that this virus could gain the ability to spread easily and sustainably among people, triggering a global outbreak of disease (pandemic). CDC is following this situation closely and coordinating with domestic and international partners."

(Highlight is mine.)

[CopperLocker]

What's fascinating is the number of pandemics and epidemics that have been around.Egypt has records of the bubonic plague and influenza since the year 1650 BC. We're a resilient group when it comes to a bug apparently. I remember when the Measles, Mumps, Swine Flu and Legionaries Disease was a scare. I wouldn't worry unless you see the numbers grow rapidly, like a pandemic does.

[damian_steele]

New H7N9 flu strains may have pandemic potential

Genetic variations in the deadly bird flu virus circulating in China increase the potential for a pandemic strain to emerge, researchers in Shanghai said.

Three new variants of the avian influenza type-A H7N9 virus have been found this winter, spurred by transmission in poultry and the incorporation of genetic material from another strain called H9N2, scientists at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences said. The new strains may be behind a surge of infections in Guangdong, the southern province bordering Hong Kong.

So far, 178 people are known to have been infected with H7N9 this year, 19 more than in 2013, according to a list of confirmed cases kept by Internet message board FluTrackers. Each case increases the risk of the virus becoming better suited to humans, rather than birds, giving it the ability to spread easily from person to person. Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces and the Shanghai metropolitan area have been the worst affected regions, the scientists wrote in a paper published in Eurosurveillance yesterday.

The rapidly increasing number of cases of A(H7N9) virus infection in these three regions may raise concerns as to whether there is an association between circulation of the new A(H7N9) reassortment strains identified and accelerated transmission of A(H7N9) virus in humans,” the scientists said. “It is of the utmost importance to monitor the risk of a potential pandemic initiated by various influenza virus strains.”

More: http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2014/02...emic-potential

[billsstamps]

People in Hong Kong and Macau, when I was there a couple of weeks ago, complained about the "bad habits" of people from Guandong province swarming south who coughed openly in public.

A doctor from Shenzhen I spoke to said that hygeine is an issue for Guandong province, but thanks to education it is a reducing minority.
It is not even an amber alert in Hong Kong, but you do see plenty of people walking round with face masks.

I am glad of my yearly influenza vaccination!