The number of human cases of H7N9 bird flu in China this month has passed 100, according to an AFP tally, as the worst-hit province ordered live poultry markets in major cities to be closed.
H7N9 cases and deaths dropped significantly after the end of June last year, but have spiked recently with the onset of winter.
So far this month there have been 102 cases in China, including 22 deaths, according to a tally of reports by local authorities.
In the whole of last year, China had 144 confirmed cases including 46 deaths.
The H7N9 human outbreak began in China in February last year and reignited fears that a bird flu virus could mutate to become easily transmissible between people, threatening to trigger a pandemic.
However, there has been no evidence so far of sustained human-to-human transmission, Chinese authorities and the WHO say.
More than half of this month’s deaths, 12 fatalities, have been in the eastern province of Zhejiang, where state media yesterday said live poultry markets would be permanently closed in major cities.
Live poultry markets are common in China and elsewhere in Asia, and present an ideal environment for virus spread between birds held together in very high concentrations.
Such facilities will be closed in major cities and affected smaller towns in Zhejiang for three months by Feb. 15, the Zhejiang Daily said, citing authorities.
It said the “painful” measure was being taken as part of efforts to combat the disease.
STEPPING UP: Diminished US polar science presence mean opportunities for the UK and other countries, although China or Russia might also fill that gap, a researcher said The UK’s flagship polar research vessel is to head to Antarctica next week to help advance dozens of climate change-linked science projects, as Western nations spearhead studies there while the US withdraws. The RRS Sir David Attenborough, a state-of-the-art ship named after the renowned British naturalist, would aid research on everything from “hunting underwater tsunamis” to tracking glacier melt and whale populations. Operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the country’s polar research institute, the 15,000-tonne icebreaker — boasting a helipad, and various laboratories and gadgetry — is pivotal to the UK’s efforts to assess climate change’s impact there. “The saying goes
Floods on Sunday trapped people in vehicles and homes in Spain as torrential rain drenched the northeastern Catalonia region, a day after downpours unleashed travel chaos on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. Local media shared videos of roaring torrents of brown water tearing through streets and submerging vehicles. National weather agency AEMET decreed the highest red alert in the province of Tarragona, warning of 180mm of rain in 12 hours in the Ebro River delta. Catalan fire service spokesman Oriol Corbella told reporters people had been caught by surprise, with people trapped “inside vehicles, in buildings, on ground floors.” Santa Barbara Mayor Josep Lluis
Police in China detained dozens of pastors of one of its largest underground churches over the weekend, a church spokesperson and relatives said, in the biggest crackdown on Christians since 2018. The detentions, which come amid renewed China-US tensions after Beijing dramatically expanded rare earth export controls last week, drew condemnation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Sunday called for the immediate release of the pastors. Pastor Jin Mingri (金明日), founder of Zion Church, an unofficial “house church” not sanctioned by the Chinese government, was detained at his home in the southern city of Beihai on Friday evening, said
TICKING CLOCK: A path to a budget agreement was still possible, the president’s office said, as a debate on reversing an increase of the pension age carries on French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was racing to find a new prime minister within a two-day deadline after the resignation of outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu tipped the country deeper into political crisis. The presidency late on Wednesday said that Macron would name a new prime minister within 48 hours, indicating that the appointment would come by this evening at the latest. Lecornu told French television in an interview that he expected a new prime minister to be named — rather than early legislative elections or Macron’s resignation — to resolve the crisis. The developments were the latest twists in three tumultuous
RSS