Avian flu prompts China to close live poultry markets

Influenza A (H7N9) virus has pandemic potential, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the continued rise in new cases in people in China since December is a cause for concern.

(Stokerplusss, Bigstock)
(Stokerplusss, Bigstock)

Avian influenza A (H7N9) virus has pandemic potential in humans, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the continued rise in new cases in people in China since December is a cause for concern.

New infections have tended to occur in waves each winter since the first cases were confirmed back in February of 2013. Since then, a total of 1,174 people have been confirmed with the infection, and there have been 417 deaths, FAO reports.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the latest wave of new infections in China began in October last year, and there is no sign of an end to the current wave. By mid-February, the number of cases had already reached 120 for the month, and it looks likely to exceed the January total of around 140, which was the highest peak since January 2014.

Based in Hong Kong, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) monitors human cases of H7N9 influenza throughout China, based on reports from Mainland China’s health authorities. According to CHP, 53 new human cases have been confirmed in the last week alone. Worst affected have been Zhejiang and Jiangsu with 12 and 10 cases, respectively, but the provinces of Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Hubei, Henan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Yunnan each have one or more confirmed cases.

As of mid-February, CHP puts the number of cases since November 2016 in Mainland China at 355.

Not only are there more human cases of H7N9 than in previous waves, WHO reports that there is a wider geographic spread of the virus was observed in this current fifth wave.

Live poultry markets closed to reduce disease spread

There is little evidence that the virus is transmitted from one person to another although this has occurred in some cases. Rather, many cases have been linked to contact with sick poultry and/or live bird markets, which are the preferred sources of poultry meat for many Chinese people. More than 2,000 samples from the environment, chickens, pigeons, ducks and a tree sparrow have tested positive for the H7N9 virus, with many positives originating in live bird markets, vendors and some commercial or breeding farms, reports FAO.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture reported that of the more than 102,000 serum and 55,000 virological samples collected from almost 6,600 locations in 26 provinces in January, 26 virology samples tested positive for the H7N9 virus. Positive samples included chickens at markets in the provinces of Guangdong, Guizhou and Jiangsu, and poultry at a farm in Hunan. Serum samples also tested positive for H7 antibodies at several markets in Guangdong and three farms in Shandong.

Following these positive results, since early February, authorities have announced the temporary closure of live poultry markets in Changsha (Hunan), Guangzhou (Guangdong), Suining (Sichuan) and throughout Zhejiang province. 

Page 1 of 171
Next Page