Bird Flu
China is reporting four more deaths due to infection from a new strain of avian influenza, H7N9, bringing the total number of bird flu related fatalities to 31---according to Chinese health authorities. The total number of infections in the country has increased from two to 129.
On Saturday, local health authorities in China announced that the H7N9 bird flu virus has spread to the central province of Hunan, making this the third case in three days in a new location.
China reported the first case of a new strain of bird flu infection in the northeastern province of Shandong, according to the news agency Xinhua.
It's been nearly three weeks since Chinese researchers reportedly discovered a new strain of bird flu in humans. Scientists however still aren't sure how people are becoming infected with the disease, when most of the subjects had seemingly not had any recent contact with live fowl. Additionally, the bird flu virus supposedly can't be passed from person to person.
As news came in Tuesday of four more infections in China from the H7N9 bird flu, one view of the situation, espoused by Foreign Policy's global health expert, Laurie Garrett, may be coming into sharper focus: that "this could be how pandemics begin."
Two men in Shanghai are the first humans to die from H7N9, a strain of bird flu that has previously not been reported affecting humans, said Chinese authorities on Sunday.
The avian flu, also known as the bird flu or H5N1, has been located in Mexico and affected more than half-million livestock.
Human cases on the bird flu, also known as H5N1 and the avian influenza, are rare but it has once again struck two people, fatally.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has noted that most avian influenza virus, also known as bird flu or H5N1, do not affect humans, however it has struck five.
The avian flu affecting humans is considered rare but cases have been reported, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The avian influenza, also known as the bird flu and H5N1, will be studied after a ban placed in 2011 in the Netherlands and the U.S.
