Flu Experts Probe H7N9 Outbreak as Cases Double in a Week

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-19/flu-experts-probe-h7n9-outbreak-as-cases-double-in-a-week.html

Influenza specialists from around the world are converging on China to help authorities identify how people are catching the new H7N9 bird flu strain after the number of reported cases there doubled in the past week.

China recorded its 88th H7N9 infection yesterday. Seventeen of the cases have been fatal and “several” patients are in critical condition, according to the World Health Organization.

“That’s a fairly high mortality rate,” Michael O’Leary, the WHO’s China representative, told reporters in Beijing today. Less severe cases may have escaped detection, he said. “What we don’t know is the size of the iceberg under this tip.”

China’s H7N9 bird flu outbreak has a puzzling feature: most of those getting sick and dying from the pneumonia-causing virus are elderly men, data compiled by Bloomberg show. In contrast, earlier this week, a 4-year-old boy in Beijing became the first reported case of an infection without illness.

[dballance]

1. This is much more scary than N. Korea and Iran combined

If this starts to spread outside China it could be very bad.

[haikugal]

2. Thanks for the update.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. "infection without illness" in a 4 year old?

it targets elderly men
a 4 year has it but no symptoms

Does that sound like a "natural" virus to you?

[pscot]

4. The infected poultry found in Shanghai markets

were reportedly pigeons. Many Chinese keep pigeons, as do Americans and Europeans. It's being reported that these domestic pigeons are somehow different than the "poultry" varieties, but that difference is a result of breeding. They are all the same species, European Rock Doves, and therefore all capable of carrying the virus. There is an active trade in pigeons. Pigeon fanciers ship pigeons around the globe and sometimes race the birds over long distances. I'm not sure what any of this means, but it suggests some interesting possibilities.