China readies to fight new bird flu; Japan, HK on guard
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - The death toll from a new strain of bird flu rose to five in China on Thursday as Beijing said it was mobilising resources nationwide to combat the virus, Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance and Vietnam banned imports of Chinese poultry.
The H7N9 bird flu strain does not appear to be transmitted from human to human but authorities in Hong Kong raised a preliminary alert and said they were taking precautions at the airport.
In Japan, airports have put up posters at entry points warning all passengers from China to seek medical attention if they suspect they have bird flu.
A total of 14 people in China have been confirmed to have contracted H7N9, all in the east of the country. One of the cases was a four-year-old child, who was recovering, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/04/uk-birdflu-china-idUKBRE93304R20130404
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)It has all the hallmarks of a bad one in the making.
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)that's the problem especially given the animals apparently have to signs of sickness.
mainer
(12,013 posts)in which case I go from concerned to downright scared.
The fact that birds show no signs of illness means this virus is probably already out there and incubating in the wild, and could be arriving in the US with migratory flocks.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Could pass to other species I guess.
mainer
(12,013 posts)and some of the dead humans included poultry handlers, so I assume this is in chicken flocks. Once it's in migratory birds, it's all over the world.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)I can't even imagine how large & filthy one Chinese factory farm is- that processes, one million chickens a week, and that was in 2009!
ref and good read http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3155-China-encounters-factory-farming