Excerpt - editing is mine
2013-09-26
BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The avian influenza
strain of H7N9 is highly likely to return and affect humans in the
autumn and winter on the Chinese mainland, warned Zeng Guang, chief
epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
China has remained free of new human H7N9 cases for more than a month
since the last fatality — a 51-year-old woman who died of multiple
organ failure caused by the virus on Aug 12 in Huizhou, Guangdong
province — according to the National Health and Family Planning
Commission.
The woman, who was transferred from Langfang, Hebei province, in mid July, worked in slaughtering poultry at a local market.
China has reported 134 human infections of H7N9 on the mainland, including 45 deaths, official statistics show.
"Given that the virus never stopped circulating among birds, humans
are also at risk of infection, particularly in the common peak flu
season, which usually lasts till spring,"Zeng said.
An overlap of the peak flu season and more frequent smoggy weather
could make the situation even worse and intervention efforts more
complicated, he said.
Flu prevention requires good ventilation, which can't be easily supplied in smoggy weather, he explained.
He urged the public to take precautions such as to avoid staying in
public places for long and to be aware of good personal hygiene,
including frequent hand-washing.
In addition, to prevent H7N9 infection, "people shouldn't go to live poultry markets", he said.
Feng Zijian, director of the health emergency center of China CDC,
echoed the need for public awareness but dismissed the possibility of a
widespread human outbreak.
Close surveillance of the virus has so far detected no major
mutations that would enable H7N9 to easily spread among humans, he said.
"We'll have joint consultation on Friday with the agriculture
departments which oversee virus surveillance of animals to evaluate the
epidemic risk in the autumn and winter season to guide more targeted
interventions,"he said.
The Beijing Health Bureau said on Monday it would further strengthen surveillance and intervention of H7N9 in autumn and winter.
All districts and counties of the capital must give all patients with
flu or flu-like symptoms within the jurisdiction H7N9 virus screening
upon detection of any human bird flu case, according to an announcement
by the bureau.
Continued: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-09/26/c_132751003.htm
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