Chinese scientists have taken the very rare step of making a public announcement concerning a new strain of bird flu.
The Chinese government usually tries to keep news about a new bird flu strain from being released into the public until it is a major health issue. However, a new strain of the virus called H10N8 apparently has shaken health officials to the level they are acting quickly to warn the public.
A 73-year-old woman from Nanchang City in southeast China died after being the first person found with the virus and a second person is confirmed to be infected with the virus. The scientists say the quick transmission makes it a more likely possibility the virus, which they believe transferred from wild birds to chickens, has mutated into a form that can be easily transmitted from birds to humans.
The report of the woman’s death published in the Lancet medical journal said “the pandemic potential of this novel virus should not be underestimated.”
Dr. John McCauley of the World Health Organization said that H10N8 does not cause serious disease in poultry and thus it is difficult to detect. While they don’t believe the virus would transmit well between humans, Dr. McCauley admitted there was not enough information to make a definitive claim.
The H7N9 bird flu has claimed another victim in Hong Kong.
The death marks the third death in the city since the arrival of the virus from China. The male victim, who has recently visited the Chinese city of Shenzhen, was admitted to the hospital less than 24 hours before he died.
The World Health Organization has been quietly using a new term when talking about transmission of the virus between humans. Studies of cases in China show that it is possible to transfer the virus between people so the term “sustained human-to-human transmission” is being used meaning that they don’t see infections happening on a mass scale.
The changes have happened since the virus was spotted in both Taiwan and Hong Kong, raising fears the virus is making its way out of China toward emerging nations that are not ready to handle the deadly virus.
The H7N9 virus was discovered last week at a Hong Kong market resulting in the slaughter of 20,000 birds.
China has developed the ability for space-based warfare including satellite targeting missiles and other weapons that can destroy the U.S. communication net.
Space warfare experts say that the United States’ dependence on satellites for communications among military units is a weakness that is being targeted by the Chinese in the event of future military conflict.
“The current and evolving counterspace threat posed by China to U.S. military operations in the Asia Pacific theater and outside is extremely serious,” Ashley Tellis, former State Department and National Security Council strategic specialist, told Congress.
The experts believe that in the short term China will focus on producing missiles capable of destroying U.S. satellites in space. They testified that most current models used by the military for potential conflicts assume that their satellite based communication system would not be disrupted.
Robert Butterworth, former chief of strategic planning for Air Force Space Command, said that while war with China is not an imminent threat, Congress needs to remember that China won’t be dissuaded in their efforts by the world reminding them about current norms against weaponizing space.
A new scientific report says that the toxic pollutants causing massive levels of smog in China has the ability to cross the Pacific Ocean and create air quality problems for the western United States.
The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first time scientists have been able to quantify the amount of Chinese pollution making its way across the ocean. The study said that anywhere from 12% to 24% of the daily sulfate concentrations around Los Angeles is directly attributed to Chinese pollution related to exports.
The researchers say one of the biggest hazards is “black carbon.” Unlike other forms of air pollution, black carbon is not removed from the air by rain. The carbon has been found in valleys and holes in California. Black carbon is connected to asthma as well as cancer, emphysema and heart & lung disease.
Smog in China has reached levels that in parts of Beijing officials had to turn electronic billboards into replicas of the sun so that residents would know when dawn and sunset were happening around them.
China’s Defense Ministry has confirmed long rumored development of a new hypersonic aircraft that could attack thousands of miles from its launch point.
The hypersonic glide vehicle would be launched using an intercontinental ballistic missile and could travel at speeds of Mach 10. The device would be very difficult to detect by warning systems because unlike the missiles the glider would not enter space.
Military affairs analysts told the Washington Free Beacon the weapon is part of weapons called an “assassin’s mace.” Those weapons are designed to be used by a weaker military force to gain an advantage against a superior foe.
A Pentagon spokesman said that they were aware of the Chinese test.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and two subcommittee chairman called the test concerning and that it showed a fast technological leap by the Chinese military.
A mutation discovered in a new strain of bird flu has rendered the virus resistant to treatment drugs without limiting its ability to spread.
Most seasonal flu strains often become less transmissible when developing drug resistance, but scientists discovered that the H7N9 bird flu does not lose any of its spreading potential even with drug resistance.
Researchers said they do not believe this will make H7N9 any more likely to develop into a pandemic, but do recommend that doctors should be careful in their use of anti-viral medicines and consider using other drugs instead of Tamiflu to treat H7N9 cases.
The H7N9 bird flu has infected at least 139 people so far in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and has killed 45 people.
A strain of bird flu that was discovered in 1965 has infected a human being for the first time.
A 73-year-old Chinese woman died earlier this month of respiratory failure and a post-mortem examination showed she had contracted H10N8 bird flu. The H10N8 strain was discovered in birds in 1965 but had never been found in a human being.
Doctors said the woman was admitted with severe pneumonia, high blood pressure, neuromuscular problems and a heart attack. They had not suspected bird flu at the time of her admission.
Family members in contact with the woman have not shown symptoms of the virus. Officials say the woman had contact with animals at a live bird market four days before she fell ill.
Chinese health officials and the World Health Organization say they will be increasing their surveillance of hospitals to look for more potential H10N8 victims.
This is the second new bird flu virus to infect humans in China in 2013. H7N9, which has killed 45 of the 137 people it has infected, was discovered in March 2013.
Smog in southwest China has become so bad that a hospital has been forced to open a clinic focused solely on dealing with smog related illness.
No. 7 People’s Hospital in Chengdu City, provincial capital of Sichuan Province, has reported already dealing with 100 patients suffering from smog related respiratory conditions.
Hospital officials say that previously victims of smog related illness would have to be treated in multiple clinics such as ear-nose-throat and pneumology resulting in multiple doctor visits. The new clinic will streamline treatment for patients and doctors.
Thick smog in many parts of China in the last few months have forced closures of schools, businesses and highways. Some days were so bad that officials told residents not to allow their children outside in the air.
The Chinese government is reportedly examining whether liquid nitrogen shot into the air can be used as a way to lower smog in major cities.
It had been a long established scientific fact that when a flu virus obtained an immunity to particular anti-viral flu medications, they would become less effective in transmission between humans.
Now scientists have found the deadly H7N9 bird flu in China does not lose any of its infectivity when it becomes resistant to commonly used drugs like Tamiflu.
The researchers were quick to add that the drug-resistant H7N9 was not more infectious than in the past. They reiterated that the virus is one of the less transmittable viruses between humans.
H7N9 emerged earlier this year in China and has killed 45 of the 139 people confirmed to have been infected with the virus. Scientists had initially believed H7N9 could not transmit between humans but found cases in August of human-to-human transmission.
A separate study in the United States this week said that it was not impossible for H7N9 to mutate into a form that could be easily passed among humans.
Health officials in Hong Kong have quarantined 19 people after a second man has been found infected with the deadly H7N9 bird flu.
The latest case is an 80-year-old man who normally lives in the mainland China city of Shenzhen.
The man developed a fever and was taken to a hospital Friday where later tests revealed the deadly virus. Government officials then rounded up 19 people who had close contact with the elderly victim for testing and safety reasons.
According to sources, one of the 19 people had an “indeterminate” test meaning it’s possible they have been infected. The other 18 have tested negative.
Officials said they are investigating if the latest victim had contact with poultry while he was on the Chinese mainland. Investigators found no link between the latest victim and the first case discovered last week. That patient remains in critical condition.
The World Health Organization says that 138 human cases of H7N9 have been confirmed in China this year with 45 deaths.
