New reports to the OIE involve avian flu outbreaks in 8 countries.
China today reported five new H7N9 avian flu cases in humans, most of whom are in critical condition.
According to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) in Hong Kong, a 50-year-old woman from Nanchang is hospitalized in critical condition in Jiangxi province. And a 59-year-old man from Yiyang who worked with poultry is also listed in critical condition in a Hunan province hospital, the CHP said.
Also, an analysis of H5N2 from a wild Alaskan duck adds more evidence that North American wild birds still harbor the virus.
China said today there were four new human cases of H7N9 avian influenza, including one in a child from Hong Kong who had recently traveled to Guangdong province.
The 10-year-old boy is the fourth imported case of H7N9 in Hong Kong this winter. Authorities report that close family contacts and healthcare workers who came in contact with the boy are being treated with Tamiflu prophylactically.
The high-path strain that caused a huge outbreak in 2015 has been found in a Montana mallard.
The 128 cases in China and Hong Kong this season top last season's total of 118 infections.
More spread of H5N8 is occurring in Europe, with more nations reporting the virus in poultry.
In updates yesterday and today, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) announced five new MERS-CoV cases, one of them fatal.
Yesterday the MOH reported four new MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases, two in Riyadh and a pair from Buraydah, located about 200 miles northwest of Riyadh in the north central part of the country.
China has now confirmed 38 cases this season, compared with 10 at this point last season.
The Czech Republic today said highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza has been confirmed at two small poultry farms and in wild birds, Reuters reported today, citing the country's agriculture ministry. The outbreak is the country's first in nearly a decade.
