Eleven new H7N9 cases include one in Beijing
Lisa Schnirring
CIDRAP News
Jan 24, 2014
As China headed into a week of Lunar New Year travel and celebrations, it reported 11 new H7N9 avian influenza infections today, including the first one in Beijing since the first wave last spring.
At least 45 infections have been reported this week, a level that tops the busiest week of the outbreak’s first wave last spring.
In an outbreak that seems to be heavily driven by human contact with live poultry or their environments, health officials have aired concerns that holiday rituals that involve market-bird purchases and slaughter in people’s homes, as well as crowded travel conditions, could amplify the numbers of infected people.
The surge in H7N9 activity in China, as well as other recent high-profile infectious disease events, is triggering preparedness activities and threat assessments in other countries, including the United States, other Asian nations, and Europe.
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