China Reports New H7N9 Infection

Uh oh

Chinese Man Survives H5N1 After 20 Days Of Treatment

A 52 year old Jiangsu man, Lu, lost his son to the bird flu virus in early November. Lu developed a fever shortly after his son died, and it was confirmed he too had become infected with H5N1.

But after 20 days of treatment, Lu recovered and was discharged from a hospital into the care of his family :

Lu's son died on Nov. 2, a couple of days after being diagnosed with "lower left lobe pneumonia" in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu. He was the 17th Chinese to die of avian flu since 2003.

He was said to have had no contact with dead poultry and the Jiangsu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau said no bird flu epidemic had been discovered in the province.

China's health authorities previously said that no human-to-human transmission had been confirmed in the two human cases of bird flu and the means of transmission in these cases, involving the two family members in the Nanjing area, remained unknown.

As with all human bird flu cases in China, details are thin.

Bird Flu Returns To Asia, Deaths In Three Countries

This report in the Jakarta Post supplies a fairly comprehensive round-up of recent events, and makes for a concerning 'big picture' view of the H5N1 spread :

Bird flu has resurfaced in parts of Asia, with human deaths reported in Indonesia and China and fresh poultry outbreaks plaguing other countries during the winter months when the virus typically flares.

Indonesia, the nation hardest hit by the H5N1 virus, announced its 93rd death on Friday after a 47-year-old man died a day earlier in a Jakarta hospital, said Health Ministry spokesman Joko Suyono. He fell ill on Dec. 2 and was admitted with flu-like symptoms, becoming Indonesia's 115th person infected with the disease.

In China, the military in eastern Nanjing banned the sale of poultry this week after a father and son were sickened by the disease earlier this month. Health officials confirmed the 24-year-old man died from the virus a day before his father, 52, became sick. It was the country's 17th bird flu death.The two were believed to have eaten a traditional dish known as "beggar's chicken," in which the bird is wrapped in lotus leaves and baked. However, the cause of infection remained unclear. The father is recovering after taking the antiviral Tamiflu, said Hans Troedsson, World Health Organization representative in China. More than 80 people who had contact with the family were being monitored for symptoms.

Local animal health officials said last week no H5N1 outbreaks had been detected among the province's poultry, but Troedsson said sick birds typically are not reported prior to human deaths in China...

That's startling news. Mass deaths of poultry birds aren't officially logged unless their human deaths?

Officials in Pakistan were investigating the country's first suspected bird flu cases Friday after two poultry farm workers died this week after being hospitalized with flu-like symptoms in Peshawar, said Khushdil Khan, medical superintendent of the Khyber Teaching Hospital.

Meanwhile, the disease has resurfaced in several provinces across Vietnam in recent months, killing or forcing the slaughter of thousands of birds. So far, 46 people have died from the virus nationwide.

Hong Kong closed its famed Mai Po bird sanctuary to the public for three weeks starting Friday after a wild gray heron discovered nearby tested positive for the virus.

Russia and Poland also have experienced recent outbreaks among poultry, but neither have detected human cases.

Deadly Human To Human Bird Flu Spread In China?

Man Dies Of H5N1, Father Now Infected, No Contact With Poultry Suspected

Why does this Reuters story make no mention at all of recent news that human to human transmission of the bird flu virus is now regarded as a fact by experts?

The father of a Chinese man who died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu last week has also been diagnosed with the disease, authorities said on Friday.

The National Disease Authority has confirmed that a 52-year-old man surnamed Lu from the Nanjing, capital of the eastern province Jiangsu, was feverish with the H5N1 strain on Thursday, the Ministry of Health reported on its Web site (www.moh.gov.cn).

This latest case raises troublesome questions about how the man was infected.

Humans can contract H5N1 from close contact with infected birds, but scientists fear the disease could mutate into a version that spreads from person-to-person, risking wider outbreaks or even a global pandemic.

Lu's son died on Sunday from the same disease, making the question of how these two infections occurred especially important.

The Xinhua news agency had earlier reported that the son had had no contact with dead poultry and there had been no reported poultry outbreak in the province.

China has had 27 confirmed human deaths linked to the bird flu virus.


More from the BBC :

A statement on the Chinese ministry's website said a 52-year-old man in eastern Jiangsu province identified only by his surname, Lu, has been confirmed with the virus, just days after his 24-year-old son succumbed to it on 2 December.

WHO spokesman John Rainford said: "We are concerned. The fact that we have two cases here without necessarily a clear source of animal infection and within the same family means we need to make sure we do a thorough investigation."

The father began presenting symptoms on Monday and was confirmed as having the virus on Wednesday. He is being monitored in hospital.

Human To Human Bird Flu Transmission Is A Fact

World Health Organisation Confirms Humans Can Pass H5N1 To Each Other

10,000 Ducks Die In H5N1 Outbreak In China

The bird flu virus has returned to China, if it was ever eradicated to begin with.

More than 10,000 ducks are reported to have died from the virus on five farms, in the south of the country, since September 5 :

...tests on tissue samples at a provincial government lab show the presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.

As of September 14, almost 33,000 ducks had been slaughtered in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

China has reported 25 human cases of bird flu since 2003, 16 of them fatal.

Lively Hong Kong Bird Market Silenced By Virus

How Avian Influenza Has Transformed The Chinese Tradition Of Bird-Keeping


The Bird Garden and its surrounding markets provided the perfect environment for the H5N1 virus to spread rapidly - Photo by Evelyn H. Tu

Hong Kong's 'Bird Garden' was one of the more unusual and special attractions of the city's sprawling market-filled streets of the Mongkok district, for visitors, and locals, alike.

But the detection of the H5N1 virus in a migratory bird on sale at the market transformed the 'Bird Garden' overnight. Now it's all but shut down. Health officials have banned the sale of birds. Without the loud shrieks and songs of thousand of birds, and the lively chatter of those seeking a bargain, the 'Bird Garden' has lost its voice and its energy.

But the transformation of the 'Bird Garden' is only one sign of how the avian influenza virus has changed centuries old relationship between the Chinese and the once immensely popular hobby, and trade, of bird-keeping, breeding and selling :

Government workers dressed in surgical masks and suits disinfect the area daily and health officials are checking for signs of disease among hundreds of birds left in the market.

Vendors fear Hong Kong's latest H5N1 outbreak could herald an end to what was a colorful, lively age-old trade, already hit hard since 1997 when the virus made its first known jump to humans, killing six people in Hong Kong.

The virus's appearance a decade ago dampened enthusiasm in Hong Kong for the Chinese tradition of keeping birds. The latest outbreak at the market, the main source of birds for Hong Kong residents, may prompt more bird owners to get rid of their pets.

Bird raising in China dates back to the 17th century, when Manchu nomads conquered Beijing, founded the Qing dynasty and introduced their obsession with these winged creatures.

Freed from the drudgery of work, the newly rich elite spent their days in tea houses showing off their exotic birds.

The hobby has lived on in Hong Kong and some elderly men continue to congregate each morning around dawn in parks, so that their pets can sing along with other birds.

But repeated outbreaks of H5N1 in Hong Kong in poultry since 1997 have led some bird lovers to release their pets, especially after the government warned against kissing pet birds in 2005.

Large numbers of birds are still bought for release into the wild, especially by Buddhists who believe they will benefit in their next lives by giving freedom to living creatures.

"Many people have given up their hobby, released their birds," said Tan, the feed seller.

"Now with this, there will be no recovery. I could hardly make ends meet even before this. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here," said Tan, pointing at his eight pet birds in ornate Chinese bird cages.

The daurian starling bird found with H5N1 last week was left at a market stall by its owner. Health officials discovered it was infected during routine testing of bird fecal samples.

The starling -- a migratory bird that breeds in China and Mongolia and migrates to South and Southeast Asia in the winter -- had no health certificate, raising suspicion it might have been smuggled or illegally captured.

The government has no plan to shut the bird market permanently, but stallholders seem to think it's inevitable as the demand for live birds continues to plummet because of health fears.

"Business was already thin ... Before last week, we were only making around HK$350 (US$45) a day. Now we make nothing at all. I don't see any hope for us," said Mr. Chan, a feed seller.

Bird Flu Virus Already Mutating, Closed Door Conference Told

From Reuters :

The deadly H5N1 form of the bird flu virus is rapidly mutating and the world must be on guard even though the disease has yet to be transmitted between humans, experts told a meeting in Beijing, Chinese media said on Tuesday.

"The experts said that despite there being no evidence yet of human-to-human transmission of bird flu, the highly pathogenic H5N1 form of the virus is continuing to rapidly mutate, and human infections keep happening," the Health News reported.

The closed door conference, attended by experts from the Chinese and U.S. centres for disease control and the World Health Organisation among others, opened on Monday, the official newspaper of the Chinese Health Ministry reported.

The report provided no other details, except that the meeting will discuss bird flu vaccines.

The H5N1 virus remains mainly a virus of birds, but experts fear it could change into a form easily transmitted from person to person and sweep the world, killing millions within weeks or months.

So far, most human cases can be traced to direct or indirect contact with infected birds. China has not reported a poultry outbreak since Sept. 20 last year, though earlier this month the health ministry confirmed a man in the eastern province of Anhui had contracted bird flu but subsequently recovered.

Go Here To Read The Full Story

Bird Flu Hits Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand - More Deaths In Indonesia

Googling the words "bird flu" through Google News sometimes only pulls up a few stories about how various countries, and cities, are working through pandemic preparedness programs, or you find ten variations on a new warning from the World Health Organisation that a worldwide pandemic could kill 60 million, 100 million or 200 million.

But some days, like today, the computer screen jolts you like an electric shock. A storm of new outbreaks, more deaths, more dire warnings unfold in front of your eyes. It's not if, but when the pandemic hits, the experts say, and you wonder, again, is the week it begins?

Will this be the week in which historians, those who survive anyway, will look back and say, "That was the week we learned there was no turning it back. The pandemic had begun."

It's an alarming list of news stories that doesn't bode well for 2007 :

Indonesia : Mother, Son Die Within Days Of Each Other - Reality Of New Virus Clusters Come Into Focus

China Urges Unity Across Asia To Fight Spread Of Avian Influenza

4000 Chickens Died Last Week Of H5N1 Infection In Japan's Largest Poultry Growing Region

Ducks, Pigeons Die Suddenly From Bird Flu As Virus Hits Thailand

Indonesia Set To Ban Backyard Poultry In Renewed Fight Against Spread Of Bird Flu

Vietnam : Bird Flu Virus Discovered In Four Provinces In Past Ten Days

Indonesia : Four Dead From Bird Flu Virus This Year, Hospitals Prepare For More Human Outbreaks

Reports Of Bird Flu Outbreaks Spreading Across Asia

Bird Flu Pandemica Poses Grave Threats To Global Markets - Impacts Predicted To Be Worse Than Terror Attacks

Bird Flu Speads In Asia, Jump Seen In Indonesian Cases

Do What The Big Chicken Tells You




In China, a man hired by the government takes to the streets to spread the word on bird flu prevention.

China Can't Explain Bird Flu Casualties In Non-Infected Areas

China has reported 11 human cases of avian influenza infections, but cannot explain why all of these infections have occurred in areas where no outbreaks in poultry have been discovered.

"...there was no evidence of the virus mutating into a strain that could be transmitted easily among humans, circumstances that health experts fear would cause a global pandemic that would kill millions of people. 'There is no evidence that this virus is able to go through drastic mutation into an extent that could lead to human-to-human infection,' Mao said. China has reported 34 outbreaks of poultry since the beginning of last year, with most occurring since October."

CHINA LIFTS QUARANTINE ON FARMS

"China's Ministry of Agriculture has announced quarantine has been lifted in all areas affected by the avian flu on the Chinese mainland as an avian flu-affected area in southwest China was declared safe by local government earlier Friday.

"The district was put under quarantine following an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak among quails on Jan. 6. The local live fowl market was closed, all sick and suspected birds culled and local chicken farms strictly sterilized. "