Health officials say they still do not understand how a lesser-known bird flu virus was able to kill two men and seriously sicken a woman in China, but that it is unlikely that it can spread easily among humans.
Two men in Shanghai became the first known human fatalities from the H7N9 bird flu virus after contracting it in February. A woman in Chuzhou, Anhui Province, remains in serious condition, China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission said.
It was unclear how the three patients became infected, it said.
It sought to calm fears about the virus, but provided few details about each case. It said that two sons of one of the Shanghai men also suffered from acute pneumonia, and the source of their infection is still unknown.
The commission said other people who were in close contact with the victims have not become sick, indicating that the virus is not easily transmitted between humans.
“We don’t know yet the causes of illness in the two sons, but naturally, if three people in one family acquire severe pneumonia in a short period of time, it raises a lot of concern,” WHO China representative Michael O’Leary said at a briefing in Beijing yesterday.
Other strains of the H7 family of bird flu viruses have caused mostly mild human infections in the past, said University of Hong Kong microbiologist Malik Peiris, with cases reported in the Netherlands, Canada, the US and Britain — mostly following outbreaks in poultry.
Experts say the deaths in China might indicate that the H7N9 strain has morphed to become more lethal to humans, although it is not possible to make any conclusions yet about its mortality rate because many mild cases may go undetected. A thorough tracing of the virus is critical.
“I would guess that given the severity of the human disease it is likely that these particular viruses have undergone the change to become highly pathogenic, but obviously that remains to be ascertained,” Peiris said. “The crucial question is the source of this virus, where is it.”
“At the moment, there has been not much evidence of human-to-human transmission [of H7N9] so to that extent it is similar to the H5N1 situation, but it is early days and so there’s a lot more to be understood,” Peiris said.
Scientists classify flus based on the proteins on the surface of the virus: There are 17 varieties of hemagluttinin, the H in a flu’s name, and 10 varieties of neuraminidase, the N component. Any combination of those Hs and Ns could crop up and potentially mutate into a form that is spread easily from person to person, making it dangerous enough to produce a pandemic.
Health authorities are monitoring 88 people who came into contact with the H7N9 patients and have not found any additional infections so far, China’s health agency said.
Experts say that indicates that the chance of human-to-human transmission is low.
“It is very unlikely, because the virus has to break the species barrier and this is usually quite a difficult event. There has to be a lot of significant mutation,” said David Hui (許樹昌), an infectious disease expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary