Experts investigate 3 cases of H7N9 bird flu in same family

By Hu Min | January 30, 2014, Thursday |

Print Edition

Health authorities in Zhejiang Province are investigating the source of infection in a family of three all diagnosed with the H7N9 bird flu, one of whom has since died.

A 49-old-man surnamed Yu from Hangzhou, the provincial capital, was confirmed with the virus on January 20. His 23-year-old daughter was diagnosed with the flu three days later, while his wife tested positive on Monday. Both had accompanied Yu when he first went to hospital, the provincial health and family planning commission said yesterday.

Yu has died, his daughter is in serious condition and his wife is slightly ill.

They are among 53 cases, including 12 fatalities, reported in Zhejiang, the most among provincial areas of China.

Experts said research had found sporadic outbreaks among family members, but human-to-human transmission was very limited and unsustained. They said there was no evidence the virus could be transmitted between people.

Experts do not yet know how the virus spread in the family. Some think they all had contact with poultry, while others think the father transmitted the flu to his wife and daughter.

If the case is confirmed as person-to-person transmission, there is still no need to panic, Li Lanjuan, a specialist in H7N9 prevention, told Xinhua news agency. “So far there have not been any cases in which one person transmits the flu to another who transmits the virus to a third person,” said Li.

The H7N9 bird flu is not likely to spread in schools, workplaces or gatherings, said Chen Zhiping, deputy head of the provincial disease control and prevention center.

Zhejiang has banned the live poultry trade in areas where infected patients have been found, said Ye Zhen, deputy director of the provincial health authority.

The markets will be suspended for three months.

From July, live poultry trade markets in all major residential areas across the province will be closed.

Of China’s cases so far this year, some 70 percent had been in contact with live poultry.

The number of new cases dropped significantly in areas where infections were reported after live poultry markets there were shut down, according to People’s Daily.

China’s poultry farming industry has suffered a direct loss of 20 billion yuan (US$3.22 billion) due to the drop in sales and price of poultry and eggs, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

The price of live chicken fell 4.4 percent last week, while the price of eggs dropped 10.2 percent.

It said the virus seemed to be confined to markets.

Focus on poultry markets

Live poultry markets should close if a case of H7N9 avian flu is detected, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said yesterday.

The commission also suggested markets be thoroughly disinfected where H7N9 cases are reported.

In places where there are no cases, it suggests poultry markets be cleaned every day and disinfected once a week.

Anyone who may have been exposed to H7N9 should seek medical advice in the event of fever or coughing, it said.

3rd death in Hong Kong

Hong Kong reported its third death from H7N9 bird flu yesterday — an elderly man who had visited the southern city of Shenzhen on China’s mainland.

The 75-year-old died yesterday morning, a government doctor told reporters.

“Today we have confirmed the fourth H7N9 in Hong Kong, this case is likely to be an imported infection,” said Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Center for Health Protection.

Chuang said the man had been in Shenzhen from January 20 to 26 in an area where there were live poultry markets.

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