Hong Kong reports first H7N9 case of the year

[Terpe]

Hong Kong health authorities on Wednesday, January 8, confirmed the territory's third human case of the deadly H7N9 bird flu, the city's first of 2014.

A 65-year-old man has been infected with the virus and is in a critical condition, Hong Kong Center for Health Protection controller Leung Ting-hung told reporters at a press conference late Wednesday.

"The man with underlying medical conditions...presented with fever, cough and shortness of breath since January 3," Leung said, adding that he was transferred to intensive care Tuesday as his condition deteriorated.

Initial investigations showed that the man had not been directly exposed to live poultry, but had probably contracted the virus outside the city, Leung said.

"Our initial investigation has revealed that the patient traveled to Lowu, Shenzhen with a family member from January 1 to 2. He passed by a wet market which sold live poultry in Lowu on January 1," Leung said.

Leung also said that the patient may have "passed through" the entrance of a government building complex containing a wet market in Hong Kong. He did not enter the market.

The patient's relative has remained symptom-free and has been put under quarantine for 10 days.

It came as China reported its first death from the H7N9 virus for the year, after a patient in the southern province of Guangdong died of the disease on Monday.

An 80-year-old man died on Boxing Day after he was infected with H7N9, Hong Kong's first death from the virus.

The man was the second reported case of H7N9 infection in the city after a 36-year-old Indonesian domestic helper was diagnosed with the deadly virus on December 2.

Hong Kong is especially alert to the spread of viruses after an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) swept through the city in 2003, killing 299 people and infecting around 1,800.

The H7N9 outbreak began in China in February 2013 and reignited fears that a virus could mutate to become easily transmissible, potentially triggering a pandemic.

Official statistics compiled by China's health ministry show that by the end of October last year there had been 136 H7N9 cases and 45 deaths in the outbreak which began on the mainland in February.

Source:-
http://www.rappler.com/world/regions...h7n9-case-2014

[jake]

We spent the festive season in Hong Kong and they were scanning passengers at arrivals for fever. A lot of people were wearing masks but quite normal when they are not feeling well, to stop the spread of germs.

Didn't handle any live birds, as the wife would have got angry!

[malditako]

new strain of virus starts in hong kong most of time. wonder why

[Doc Alan]

China IS the world’s “ crucible “ for new forms of “ bird flu “ through its poultry markets, and the culture of close proximity to birds. Everyone in contact with a bird ( or animal like a pig ) is a potential reservoir for reassortment of genes to allow new viruses to emerge. It only takes a bird flu virus to swap genes with a human flu virus to concoct a “ super virus “ which has the extreme infectiousness of human “ seasonal “ flu and the lethal nature of avian ( “ bird “ ) flu. Ironically H7N9 doesn’t seem to make chickens ill !


The China Health Ministry reported 137 cases and 45 deaths from H7N9, by October last year. But avian flu with a high death rate is good for humanity, because the virus usually dies with the patient. The chances seem good that this bird flu won’t fly ! ( The “ Spanish flu “ pandemic of 1918 killed “ only “ about 3% of the people it infected , although that still accounted for over 40 million deaths. )


There are no plans to drop the manufacture of “ seasonal vaccines “. These contain the three flu virus strains the World Health Organization ( WHO ) judges in September are most likely to be circulating over the northern hemisphere the following winter. It would be hard to also produce enough H7N9 – or other – vaccine, without good evidence that it might be capable of causing a pandemic through human-human transmission.


I also noticed many Hong Kong residents were wearing masks a year ago – in the belief and hope that they would not only reduce spread of infections TO others, but also FROM others.


Understandably Chinese citizens are especially sensitive about the risks of pandemics when - just over a decade ago - SARS ( severe acute respiratory syndrome, caused by a coronavirus, not a flu virus ) killed about 800 people.


Another positive outcome of the H7N9 outbreak is that China has this time moved fast in the global public interest, and been much more open with information.


China, and the world, has learned a lot from SARS, H5N1 bird flu ( 2005 ) and H1N1 swine flu ( 2009 ). Shanghai now watches for 15 categories of infectious disease at about 6000 sites. MERS ( Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome ) is, like SARS, due to a coronavirus – and is not yet well understood, but so far seems unlikely to be the cause of a future pandemic.


Many countries are better equipped than before to respond to an outbreak. This includes stocks of antiviral drugs, respirators and face masks, in addition to improved techniques for making the right vaccines.


Of course a universal flu vaccine which would protect against every type of flu, would be a major advance. Before that, more health care workers could set a good example by themselves being vaccinated each year.


http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php/48846-Flu-jab

[Rory]

We were in the airport in Hong Kong in November and if you coughed or sneezed around people you were looked on as a walking virus. Every 10 minutes there was an announcement over the tannoy about anyone with flu symptoms to seek medical help.

Scary stuff.

[Arthur Little]

Didn't handle any live "birds", as the wife would have got angry!

... I like your wry Scottish sense of humour in an otherwise serious thread, Jake!

Wise man.