China, Hong Kong report four more H7N9 cases

Chicken
Chicken

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In the ongoing trickle of H7N9 cases from China and its close neighbors, four new infections have been reported, three from the mainland and one from Hong Kong in a visitor with ties to Guangdong province.

The three new illnesses from the mainland were reported today from three different cities in Guangdong province, according to a health department statement translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board. They include an 81-year-old woman from Guangzhou, the province's capital, a 37-year-old man from Shantou, and a 71-year-old woman from Heyuan.

All three of the patients are hospitalized in critical condition.

The province's statement also included updates on five previously reported patients. Three have been discharged from the hospital and two have died. The fatalities appear to involve a 68-year-old man from Guangzhou whose infection was confirmed on Mar 31 and a 62-year-old man from Heyuan whose H7N9 illness was confirmed on Apr 3.

Hong Kong's ninth imported case

Hong Kong's case—its ninth imported H7N9 infection—involves an 82-year-old woman from Guangzhou who was found to be sick as she was entering Hong Kong by car with two family members on Apr 8, according to a statement yesterday from the region's Center for Health Protection (CHP).

The woman started having symptoms on Apr 7, which included cough and blood-stained sputum. Authorities took her from the border point to an isolation unit at a hospital, where she is being treated and is listed in stable condition.

An investigation is under way into the source of her infection. In an update today the CHP said it has identified two close contacts, along with 44 other contacts. So far neither of the close contacts, who are the woman's family members, has shown symptoms of flulike illness.

The four new cases lift the outbreak total to 418, according to an H7N9 case listing kept by FluTrackers. So far 282 of the infections have been reported during the outbreak's current second wave, compared with 136 in the first wave last spring. The two new deaths push the unofficial number of fatalities to 126.

Two new WHO-confirmed cases

In other developments, the World Health Organization (WHO) today provided more details on two recent H7N9 illnesses, in a 73-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman from Jiangsu province.

Both the man, from Taizhou city, and the woman, from Suzhou city, became ill on Mar 26, were hospitalized on Mar 30, and are listed in critical condition.

The WHO also said on Apr 8 that it conducted another H7N9 risk assessment hasn't changed its view since it last looked at developments on Mar 28, Mar 11, and Feb 28. The agency has said that sporadic infections, primarily in people who have contact with poultry and their environments, are likely to continue, but so far the virus doesn't appear to transmit easily among humans.

See also:

Apr 10 FluTrackers thread

Apr 9 CHP statement

Apr 10 CHP statement

FluTrackers human H7N9 case count list

Apr 10 WHO statement

Apr 8 WHO H7N9 risk assessment

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