China Reports 27Th Death From H7N9 Bird Flu

[News_Editor]

<p>BEIJING, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll from a new strain of avian influenza that had never before been transmitted to humans has risen to 27 after a man died in central China, health authorities said on Thursday. The total number of laboratory-confirmed cases has now reached 128.

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<p>The Hunan Provincial Health Department said a 55-year-old man died Wednesday morning at a hospital in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. The man, who is from neighboring Jiangxi Province, was initially hospitalized at another hospital near Changsha after being ill for eleven days, and laboratory tests later confirmed he was suffering from avian influenza, which is better known as bird flu.

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<p>The tests showed he had contracted H7N9, which is a relatively new strain that was until recently only known to infect birds.

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<p>As of Thursday, health authorities have reported a total of 128 laboratory-confirmed cases of H7N9, including 27 deaths. It remains unclear how the virus is spreading, but experts have suggested that the virus mutated to allow it to infect poultry and birds without generating symptoms while sickening humans.

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<p>While some of the victims said they had no recent contact with poultry or birds, Chinese and international health authorities have stressed they have seen no credible evidence of human-to-human transmission. Experts however have warned that the virus could pose a serious risk to human health if it mutates.

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<p>"The authorities in the affected locations continue to implement prevention and control measures," the World Health Organization said on Thursday. "Investigations into the possible sources of infection and reservoirs of the virus are ongoing. Until the source of infection has been identified and controlled, it is expected that there will be further cases of human infection with the virus."

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<p>The Chinese government has said it is closely monitoring the situation and cities in eastern provinces, where most cases have been reported, have stepped up public health measures for early detection, diagnosis and treatment. Communication efforts between human and animal health and industry sectors have also been increased, while citizens have been urged to maintain good personal hygiene and avoid direct contact with sick or dead animals.

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<p>While there is no known vaccine for H7N9, the strain is different from the well-known H5N1 variant. Since 2003, the H5N1 bird flu virus has killed or forced the culling of more than 400 million domestic poultry worldwide and caused an estimated $20 billion in economic damage before it was eliminated from most of the 63 infected countries.

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<p>According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the bird flu virus has infected at least 605 people since it first appeared, killing 357 of them. Most cases and deaths were recorded in Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and China. Vietnam, Indonesia, China and Cambodia all reported bird flu deaths last year.

</p> <p> (Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].) </p>

[Publicus]

Can we trust Beijing this time? Or is a global pandemic being born?

http://www.chinafile.com/bird-flu-fears-should-we-trust-beijing-time

[Credo]

We don't have much choice, but to trust them. At least the WHO is looking over their shoulder.

[Publicus]

We don't have much choice, but to trust them. At least the WHO is looking over their shoulder.

Beijing's record during the SARS outbreak that began in the PRChina ten years ago was abysmal. The secrecy imposed by the CCP directly resulted in the global pandemic.

So in this outbreak of 27 people dead, of dead pigs in major rivers, human bodies regularly being dumped into major rivers, dead birds all over the place, Beijing has only one way to go, which is up, ie. to get it better this time. But that leaves the bar very low for Beijing.

As one expert said in the link above, presently a few are willing to applaud the little bit of improvement we've seen this time, but that the gap of trust between the PRChinese people and the CCP's government in Beijing remains great. A news blackout of the new outbreak continues in the state controlled media, which means all of the media, to include censorship of the internet and subsequent arrests of PRChinese "netizens" who continue to ask unanswered questions.

In the CCP-PRC you go to jail if you ask the authorities about the current new outbreak that's been going on for months. In some countries there are citizens who distrust their government. In the PRChina, the government distrusts all of its citizens.

[Steely Dan]

I hope H7N9 does not spread to Thailand, I suspect my wife would defend her Silkie chickens with a gun if the authorities came to cull them. By way of perspective the year that SARS peaked more people actually died form being hit on the head by falling coconuts than those who died from Sars, I remember clearly communicating this to some tourists in Laos, who were avoiding eating chicken. I argued they would be safer eating chicken but wearing crash helmets, if statistics were any guide.

[Publicus]

I hope H7N9 does not spread to Thailand, I suspect my wife would defend her Silkie chickens with a gun if the authorities came to cull them. By way of perspective the year that SARS peaked more people actually died form being hit on the head by falling coconuts than those who died from Sars, I remember clearly communicating this to some tourists in Laos, who were avoiding eating chicken. I argued they would be safer eating chicken but wearing crash helmets, if statistics were any guide.

Yes on both counts, ie, SARS and coconuts.

While I was single and teaching I always took all of the April school holiday vacation in Phuket. In April 2003 at the peak of the outbreak I think I was the only fahlang in Phuket. One day I left my hotel for lunch with Thai friends and found the streets empty, and I mean empty of everyone except us. Out front of the hotel we had a clear view down the street and sidewalks so I could see all the sidewalk vendors bending forward to get a look at the fahlang. They looked like Freddie Mercury in his rippled still picture.

I don't have a Superman complex, but I felt only slightly at risk, especially with so few intercontinental travelers in Phuket (virtually none) at the time. I felt more at risk back in Bangkok where every morning I wake up to a rooster somewhere in among the highrises.

A couple of months ago, shopping with the wife in a small town, a coconut missed us by a foot. Edited May 3, 2013 by Publicus

[Credo]

Dying from being hit by a coconut while sitting under a coconut tree at a beautiful beach sounds much nicer than coughing oneself to death with SARS or wreathing with agony from Bird Flu.

[cup-O-coffee]

We don't have much choice, but to trust them. At least the WHO is looking over their shoulder.

Oh my, that is funny; implying that the WHO (the tail) wags China (the dog). Maybe China is trying to be as big as International Big Pharma, and is making a few of the same daily mistakes as their mentors. After all, China is notorious for creating mirrors of the West, but with a flair for Chinese control; and they are getting quite good at it. Maybe they are simply testing out vaccines for what Merck and other Big Pharmas already have patents on. Yes! you read me right; Big Pharma has already bought patents on avian flu viruses that even supersede this round of H-code. They all stink, but who is to say (no pun intended) if China is simply trying to protect itself from biggies like the CFR (who constantly look over their shoulder and fire salvos of disinformation at them and the sheep public), or if this is legitimate, or what? We're all pawns in the game, and a game it is, my friend... of money and power. Do you think any of those scum give a hoot about you and me?

[Publicus]

Dying from being hit by a coconut while sitting under a coconut tree at a beautiful beach sounds much nicer than coughing oneself to death with SARS or wreathing with agony from Bird Flu.

I think Thomas Hobbs would necessarily agree. Malhtus probably would cheerfully agree.