Not Good: WHO Says Some Cases of H7N9 Have No Links to Poultry

Jerry Chan | Apr 17, 2013 8:15 pm | 5 comments | 2245 reads

Some not-so-reassuring news via Reuters today: The World Health Organization has reported that some patients with H7N9 have had "no history of contact with poultry":

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl confirmed that "there are people who have no history of contact with poultry", after a top Chinese scientist was quoted as saying that about 40 percent of those with the H7N9 virus had had no contact with fowl. "This is one of the puzzles still (to) be solved and therefore argues for a wide investigation net," Hartl said in emailed comments, though he added he did not know the exact percentage.

Though experts have yet to confirm that the virus can be transmitted from human to human, this latest news underscores how long of a ways we have to go before H7N9 can be dismissed as overblown - scientists around the world are racing to conduct more research but lord knows what else could be transmitting the virus to its human victims, or more troublingly, if it's only a matter of time before it mutates into a strain that could be easily passed on between people. Despite good news of the recovery of the infected 4-year-old Beijing boy (the city's first documented case), experts say they are worried that since he showed no symptoms, the virus could be even more widespread in the population.

As of Wednesday evening the number of confirmed cases was at 77 - the biggest one-day increase so far.

For now, it seems all we can do is keep our fingers crossed, and as Dr Richard advises - get more sleep.

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Jerry's picture Jerry Submitted by Guest on Mon, 05/13/2013 - 11:57

The H7N9 is no longer an "Emergency Epidemic" according to health officials:

Quote:
Currently there are 33 confirmed cases of H7N9 in Shanghai: 15 have recovered, 14 have died, and four are being treated in the hospital.

An additional 458 people who had close contact with the infected were kept under medical observation, but have since been released due to the absence of abnormal symptoms.

The death announcement came as the city declared that its emergency response program for epidemic diseases is ending, since there have been no new human infections reported in Shanghai for the past 20 days -- equivalent to three incubation periods for the disease.

Jerry Chan, Digital Marketing & Content Strategy Director

Jerry's picture Jerry Submitted by Guest on Thu, 04/18/2013 - 06:54

Quote:
So...first our first case was a 7 year old daughter of a poultry farmer in Shunyi. Now you're saying it's a 4 year old boy? That's interesting.

Yes - my mistake - the first documented case was the 7-year-old. The second was the 4-year-old boy. Thanks for pointing that out.

Jerry Chan, Digital Marketing & Content Strategy Director

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Thu, 04/18/2013 - 06:30

meanwhile,

China's top health authority confirmed that a family infected by H7N9 in Shanghai might involve human-to-human transmission of the new bird flu strain.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-04/18/content_16416968.htm

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admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Thu, 04/18/2013 - 05:30

bluefish wrote:
So...first our first case was a 7 year old daughter of a poultry farmer in Shunyi. Now you're saying it's a 4 year old boy? That's interesting.

there are 2 cases in Beijing, first the 7-year-old and then the 4-year-old.

I think the confusion is that although the 4-year-old was the second case, he/she left the hospital first so was the first to recover or something

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

bluefish's picture bluefish Submitted by Guest on Wed, 04/17/2013 - 22:25

So...first our first case was a 7 year old daughter of a poultry farmer in Shunyi. Now you're saying it's a 4 year old boy? That's interesting.

Then, we've been told all the way up till now that all cases are clearly linked to poultry exposure. Now suddenly the WHO has apparently known all this time that 40% were not?

Then, we have a small boy apparently "sick," but he has no symptoms? Interesting illness. Perhaps I should be worried. After all, I have no symptoms. I could be dying! Did this kid just wander into a random hospital, symptomless, and ask to be tested for the new scary bird flu?

And authorities seem to always wonder why no one believes them when they make announcements.

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