April 8, 2013

WHO works closely with China in tackling H7N9 bird flu outbreak
 

 

The H7N9 strain of bird flu found in humans for the first time in eastern China is not a cause for panic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said, as the number of people infected rose to 21, including six deaths.

 

In total, 621 close contacts of the 21 people known to have been infected are being closely monitored and have yet to show symptoms of infection, Liang Wannian, the director of China's H7N9 prevention and control office, said.

 

Li Bin, the head of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, said on Sunday she was confident authorities could contain the virus.

 

The WHO praised China for mobilising resources nationwide to combat the H7N9 flu strain by culling tens of thousands of birds and monitoring hundreds of people close to those infected.

 

"So far, we really only have sporadic cases of a rare disease, and perhaps it will remain that way. So this is not a time for over-reaction or panic," said Michael O'Leary, the WHO's representative to China.

 

But he warned that information on the virus was still incomplete.

 

"We really can't rely on information from other viruses. H7N9 is a new virus in humans and the pattern that it follows cannot be predicted by the patterns that we have from other influenza viruses," O'Leary said.

 

There could be additional infections, both among animals and humans, in other regions and authorities have stepped up measures to monitor cases of pneumonia with unexplained causes, said Liang.

 

The bird flu outbreak has caused global concern and some Chinese internet users and newspapers have questioned why it took so long for the government to announce the new cases, especially as two of the victims fell ill in February.

 

In the H7N9 case, Chinese authorities has said it needed time to correctly identify the virus, with cases spread between Shanghai and eastern Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces.

 

Liang said Chinese experts also were in the early stages of researching a possible vaccine for the virus, though it might not be needed if the virus remains only sporadically reported and if it does not spread easily among people.

 

The H7N9 strain previously was known only to infect birds, and officials say they do not know why the virus is infecting humans now. The virus has been detected in live poultry in several food markets where human cases have been found, leading officials to think people are most likely contracting the virus through direct contact with infected fowl.

 

Authorities have halted live poultry trade in cities where cases have been reported, and slaughtered fowl in markets where the virus has been detected.

 

Further investigations are underway and, for now, there's no evidence the virus is spreading easily between people. However, scientists are watching closely to see if the flu poses a substantial risk to public health or could potentially spark a global pandemic.

 

The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate the new bird flu strain. Other strains of bird flu, such as H5N1, have been circulating for many years and can be transmitted from bird to bird, and bird to human, but not generally from human to human.