Chinese researchers investigating the evolution of the H7N9 bird flu virus that has killed 43 people out of 133 confirmed human cases claim that ducks are the “melting pot” bringing the virus to chickens.
The study claims that ducks picked up various viruses from migrating birds which then mutated and were passed on to chickens. The infected chickens then gave the disease to humans at various animal markets. Continue reading
Health officials in China confirm that a woman in southern Guangdong province has been confirmed to have contracted the H7N9 bird flu.
The 51-year-old poultry worker is in critical condition after being admitted to a hospital with high fever. Continue reading
Researchers have released information that the H7N9 bird flu discovered in China can transmit between humans.
This is the first conclusive proof of human-to-human transmission. A 32-year-old woman has become infected with the virus after caring for her father. Both of them died from multiple organ failure. Continue reading
A chicken in Scott County is confirmed with avian influenza and state officials have quarantined poultry within a 6.2-mile radius around the infected bird’s farm. Continue reading
In a shocking development to scientists attempting to find the origin of the H7N9 bird flu in China that has killed 36 people, one of the most well known of medicines to fight the disease is showing up ineffective.
Tamiflu, part of the only group of medicines that can treat bird flu, has been found to be ineffective in three of 14 patients in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Continue reading
The Centers for Disease Control has released a report showing an almost 20% mortality rate for the H7N9 bird flu breaking out across China.
The CDC says the virus appears to have struck older people, a majority of them male, and have admitted that while bird-to-people transmission seems the most common transmission some human-to-human has taken place. Continue reading
As 24 people are now confirmed dead from H7N9 bird flu, researchers are saying that it poses a “serious threat” because of the pace and severity of the outbreak.
Professor John McCauley of the World Health Organization told reporters it was “unusual to get these numbers” so quickly at the discovery of a new virus. One of the big problems with H7N9 is that it does not create symptoms in birds so it is almost impossible to detect without testing all birds. Continue reading
A top US virologist is warning that the country needs to prepare for the H7N9 virus to mutate at any time.
Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases said that while the Chinese government has not shown that human-to-human transmission is possible, the virus is “unpredictable” and needs to be a subject of concern. Continue reading
The recently discovered H7N9 bird flu has now infected a second country.
Taiwan reported its first confirmed case of the virus Wednesday. A 53-year-old man is in critical condition at a hospital according to the Centers for Disease Control. The man had been working in China and returned to Taiwan via Shanghai. Continue reading
On the same day that a World Health Organization official announced the H7N9 strain of bird flu is “one of the most lethal”, other statements are indicating the organization is not as sure of their previous view the virus does not transmit between humans.
“The situation remains complex and difficult and evolving,” WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security Keiji Fukuda said at a pressconference. “When we look at influenza viruses, this is an unusually dangerous virus for humans.” Continue reading
