H7N9 sickens three more in China
China has reported three more H7N9 avian flu infections, two in Zhejiang province and one in Guangdong province, according to an analysis of Chinese state media report and a provincial health department report by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board.
Yesterday the media report cited seven recent cases from Zhejiang province but didn't list dates or any details about the patients. Cross-referencing of other Chinese media and social media sources by FluTrackers found that two of the cases haven't previously been reported, that of a 63-year-old woman who was hospitalized on Jan 7 in Yueqing and that of a 45-year-old man from Guangdong province who was hospitalized in the Zhejiang city of Yiwu.
The third case-patient is a 58-year-old man from Guangdong province who was hospitalized in Longgang, according to a provincial health report translated and posted by FluTrackers.
The three new cases lift the global H7N9 total to 520 cases, according to FluTrackers' running case total.
Jan 21 FluTrackers thread on Zhejiang cases
Jan 22 FluTrackers thread on Guangdong case
FluTrackers H7N9 case list
Egypt confirms another H5N1 death, in Cairo
Egypt's health ministry confirmed that a 36-year-old woman in Cairo died of H5N1 avian flu in Egypt yesterday, marking the 21st case and 6th death this year from the disease, The Cairo Post reported today.
Seven patients are still undergoing treatment, the health ministry said. Most of the country's cases have been detected in low-income rural areas where residents live alongside poultry, the story said, quoting a former health official.
In addition to today's confirmation, Arabic-language media are reporting three other cases, in a 7-month-old child and a 2-year-old girl in Asyut governorate, and in a 37-year-old in Gharbia governorate, according to an Avian Flu Diary blog post today. The latter case proved fatal, according to a translated report.
As of Jan 6, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 203 H5N1 cases in Egypt, including 72 deaths. Those numbers include 16 cases and 2 deaths in 2015. The country reported the most H5N1 cases in the world last year—14—and the most deaths, at 7.
Jan 22 Cairo Post story
Jan 22 Avian Flu Diary post
Jan 6 WHO global H5N1 case count