After a spate of deaths from bird flu among patients in China, the WHO has warned all nations to watch for outbreaks in poultry flocks and to promptly report any human cases.
Several strains of avian flu are spreading in Europe and Asia this winter, but the most worrisome at present is an H7N9 strain that has circulated in China every winter since 2013.
China has reported more than 225 human cases since September last year, an unusually high number.
Photo: Bloomberg
As the nation’s Lunar New Year vacation starts, live poultry shipments increase and holiday travelers often spread the flu.
The fatality rate is not yet known, because some victims are still hospitalized, but WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) said this week that China had more than 1,000 cases in the past four years, of which 39 percent were fatal.
“All countries must detect and report human cases promptly,” she said. “We cannot afford to miss the early signals.”
The flu typically infects people who raise, sell, slaughter or cook poultry, but human-to-human transmission is suspected in two cases that worry health officials.
Both were older men with a history of poultry contact. One apparently infected a daughter who cared for him and the other his hospital roommate.
The Hong Kong Department of Health this week warned residents traveling to mainland China to avoid live poultry markets.
More than 9 percent of samples from markets in Guangdong Province contained the H7N9 virus, a “substantial” reading, the department said.
The swabs are typically taken from cages, sewage gutters, feeding troughs, and chopping and defeathering machines.
Since November last year, nearly 40 nations have reported finding potentially dangerous flu strains in poultry flocks or in captured or dead wild birds. They include a new H5N6 strain, H5N8 and H5N5.
There have also been sporadic cases of H5N1, a strain with a 60 percent fatality rate that caused great alarm more than a decade ago. It has caused almost 400 confirmed deaths since 2003, but has not evolved the ability to transmit easily between people.
Since the highly contagious, but relatively mild H1N1 “swine flu” circled the globe in 2009, “the world is better prepared for the next influenza pandemic, but not at all well enough,” Chan said.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS