Beijing Confirms First Case of H7N9 Virus in North China

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-13/beijing-confirms-child-s-h7n9-case-first-in-north-china.html

Beijing confirmed that a 7-year-old girl whose parents sell live poultry is infected with H7N9 avian influenza, opening a new front in the spread of the virus that’s killed 11 people in the world’s most populous nation.

The eastern province of Jiangsu reported two fresh cases today and Shanghai reported one, bringing the number of infections in China from the new strain of bird flu to 47. Five people were confirmed ill with the virus in the 25-hour period ended 6 p.m. yesterday in Shanghai and eastern Zhejiang province, the government said.

The case in China’s capital city widens the geographic spread of the new virus, adding impetus to the government’s efforts to gauge the magnitude of the infection in poultry and wild birds. Live poultry trading has been banned in some cities and the Ministry of Agriculture this week ordered local governments to collect tissue samples from birds at markets nationwide to contain the outbreak.

The Beijing case is very important, said Nikki Shindo, a medical officer on the influenza team at the World Health Organization in Geneva. “Theoretically all China’s coastline provinces are touched by this virus, which means the great majority of China is at risk,” Shindo said in an e-mail, adding that early treatment with an anti-flu medicine may aid the girl’s recovery.