The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday raised its travel warning for the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the “alert” level after China confirmed the world’s first case of influenza virus A subtype H7N9 in a human this year.
The Chinese government on Friday last week informed the centers that a case of H7N9 avian influenza in a human was confirmed in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Liu Ting-ping (劉定萍) said.
The patient, an 82-year-old man who began exhibiting symptoms on March 18 and was hospitalized on Sunday last week, was confirmed to be infected with the virus, she said.
Photo: Lin Hui-ching, Taipei Times
The man’s history of exposure to animals was unknown, but he was reportedly likely to have come into contact with animals in Inner Mongolia’s Alxa League area, she added.
The travel warning was raised to the “alert” level due to the confirmation of the novel infection, Liu said.
Most cases of H7N9 avian influenza in humans are transmitted from birds to humans, with human-to-human transmissions being rare, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
The early symptoms of H7N9 infection are a fever, coughing, a headache, sore muscles, chills and fatigue, he said, adding that in serious cases, patients might develop pneumonia about three to seven days after the onset of symptoms.
Serious cases with pneumonia can also rapidly develop into respiratory failure, septic shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, Lo said, adding that the mortality rate of H7N9 avian influenza infection is as high as 30 to 40 percent.
Three H7N9 avian influenza infections, including one death, were confirmed in the previous flu season and all three cases were in China, he said, but added that the tally was a significant reduction from previous years.
A total of 1,568 H7N9 avian influenza infections have been reported worldwide since 2013, including 615 deaths, and 98 percent of the cases were in China, Lo said, adding that five accumulated cases, including two deaths, were confirmed in Taiwan, and were all imported from China.
In addition to Inner Mongolia, the CDC has also issued a travel “alert” for novel influenza A infections in eight Chinese cities and provinces, with a “watch” warning issued for other areas of the country.
The CDC urged people traveling to China to avoid eating raw eggs and poultry; avoid feeding or touching wild birds or poultry; wash their hands frequently with soap; get vaccinated against avian influenza if they need to work with poultry for long periods of time; wear a surgical mask; and seek immediate medical attention if symptoms occur.
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