China sought yesterday to allay fears over the threat of a bird flu pandemic after three people died from the disease this month and a fourth person remained critically ill.
There was no evidence that the potential for an outbreak of the disease was on the rise, China’s health ministry said in a statement.
“The four cases separately came from different provinces. There is no epidemiological connection between them; they are sporadic cases,” the ministry said.
A 16-year-old boy died on Tuesday from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Hunan Province.
A 27-year-old woman in Shandong Province also succumbed to the disease on Saturday, while the first fatality occurred on Jan. 5 when a 19-year-old woman died in Beijing.
The total number of reported deaths in China since the virus re-emerged in 2003 now stands at 23.
A two-year-old girl, meanwhile, is still critically ill in Shanxi Province, the ministry said.
The toddler’s mother died this month of severe pneumonia, sparking concern that she may actually have had bird flu and passed it on to her daughter.
Scientists have long feared the virus could mutate to a form that could jump easily from human to human, potentially sparking a pandemic.
The health ministry said it was unable to do tests to confirm whether the mother had died of avian influenza, as no samples were collected when she passed away.
But it added it was unlikely the girl caught bird flu from her mother.
“We cannot be sure that the patient’s mother had bird flu, and investigations show the patient had been exposed to live poultry markets,” the statement said.
“Therefore, we believe the patient’s infection most likely came from a live poultry market or another unknown exposure,” it said.
The WHO says about 250 people have died from bird flu worldwide since 2003.China sought yesterday to allay fears over the threat of a bird flu pandemic after three people died from the disease this month and a fourth person remained critically ill.
There was no evidence that the potential for an outbreak of the disease was on the rise, China’s health ministry said in a statement.
“The four cases separately came from different provinces. There is no epidemiological connection between them; they are sporadic cases,” the ministry said.
A 16-year-old boy died on Tuesday from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Hunan Province.
A 27-year-old woman in Shandong Province also succumbed to the disease on Saturday, while the first fatality occurred on Jan. 5 when a 19-year-old woman died in Beijing.
The total number of reported deaths in China since the virus re-emerged in 2003 now stands at 23.
A two-year-old girl, meanwhile, is still critically ill in Shanxi Province, the ministry said.
The toddler’s mother died this month of severe pneumonia, sparking concern that she may actually have had bird flu and passed it on to her daughter.
Scientists have long feared the virus could mutate to a form that could jump easily from human to human, potentially sparking a pandemic.
The health ministry said it was unable to do tests to confirm whether the mother had died of avian influenza, as no samples were collected when she passed away.
But it added it was unlikely the girl caught bird flu from her mother.
“We cannot be sure that the patient’s mother had bird flu, and investigations show the patient had been exposed to live poultry markets,” the statement said.
“Therefore, we believe the patient’s infection most likely came from a live poultry market or another unknown exposure,” it said.
The WHO says about 250 people have died from bird flu worldwide since 2003.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique