An outbreak of H5N1 avian flu has destroyed 50,000 chickens at a farm in China, and four H5N1 outbreaks in Vietnam have led to the deaths of almost 10,000 poultry, according to separate reports filed with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed a fatal Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) case in an Omani man that was reported by the media a week ago and revealed that he had extensive contact with camels.
Another H7N9 case has been detected in China, the ninth such infection to be reported in Guangdong province, where several of the country’s recent infections have been found.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said in a statement that the patient is a 31-year-old man who lives in Shenzhen. He started having symptoms on Dec 30 and was hospitalized on Jan 3, where he is in stable condition.
Taiwan has confirmed a second case of H7N9 avian flu, in an 86-year-old man who lives in Jiangsu province in mainland China, according to a news release today from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP).
The severity of H7N9 influenza infection is linked to high cytokine levels, and some patients appear to have a genetic marker that correlates with more serious outcomes, according to a research team from China and Australia. The group reported their findings in the Dec 23 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
News of a severe ILI cluster in Texas parallels a dramatic flu rise—mostly from H1N1—in the region and nation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed that the H10N8 avian flu death in a woman from Jiangxi province, China, reported 2 days ago by Chinese officials is indeed the first human case involving that strain, and it provided some new details.
An flu-like illness cluster has hospitalized eight people with severe infections, four of them fatal, and tests show 2009 H1N1 flu in one of the survivors.
Data show H1N1 deaths skewed toward young and reflect wide regional variance.
Studies show that antivirals up to 3 days after flu symptom onset can benefit, but their use is down in hospitalized kids.
