China reports H9N2 avian flu in Guangdong province
China recently reported another human infection involving H9N2 avian influenza, which involved a 3-year-old girl form Guangdong province, the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific regional office said in a recent avian flu update.
The patient is a 3-year-old girl from Zhuhai who had a mild illness and who had contact with domestic poultry environments before her symptoms began. So far this year, three H9N2 cases have been reported, two from China and one from India.
The WHO said China has reported 30 human H9N2 cases since 2015. Human infections with virus, common in poultry in some part of the world, are rare, but when they occur are often mild and affect children.
Apr 3 WHO WPRO avian flu report
Avian flu outbreaks strike Taiwan, Hungary, Poland, US
In avian flu outbreak developments, two countries reported more events involving highly pathogenic strains and the United States reported a new outbreak involving low-pathogenic H7N3, according to notifications from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Taiwan yesterday reported one more H5N5 outbreak, which began on Mar 25 at a goose farm in Tainan City. The virus killed 897 of 4,000 birds, and the survivors were destroyed to curb the spread of the virus. Taiwan has reported several H5N5 outbreaks since September 2019.
Elsewhere, Hungary and Poland reported more outbreaks involving the H5N8 strain. Hungary's outbreak started on Apr 1 at a farm in Csongrad County, affecting an unspecified number of birds. Poland's outbreak began on Mar 30 at a farm in Lubuskie province, killing 200 of 28,938 susceptible birds. The remaining birds were culled as part of the outbreak response.
Apr 7 OIE report on H5N5 in Taiwan
Apr 8 OIE report on H5N8 in Hungary
Apr 6 OIE report on H5N8 in Poland
In low-pathogenic avian flu developments, meanwhile, US agriculture officials reported one more H7N3 outbreak at a turkey farm in Union County, North Carolina, part of recent virus activity in that part of the state. The outbreak began on Mar 30 at a turkey meat facility housing 26,564 birds. All were destroyed to prevent the spread of the virus.
Apr 6 OIE report on H7N3 in the United States
