January 29, 2014
China''s Yangtze River Delta may close live poultry markets
After the number of people affected by the H7N9 strain of bird flu nearly doubled in the past week, cities in China''s Yangtze River Delta plan to close live poultry markets.
Despite concerns raised when a 31-year-old surgeon in Shanghai died of the virus earlier this month, Chinese authorities say there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
Evidence of human-to-human transmission would be a cause for concern as hundreds of millions of Chinese cram into trains and buses to travel home for the Lunar New Year, which begins on Friday (Jan 31), potentially exposing a larger population to the virus.
H7N9, which first appeared in eastern China in 2013, has killed 19 people so far this winter and infected 96, up from 50 cases reported last week, a Chinese news agency said. Last winter and spring, the strain killed 43 people and infected at least 85 others before warming weather and the closure of live poultry markets halted the outbreak.
Most of the human cases have been concentrated in Zhejiang Province. Zhejiang is also home to the most severe outbreaks among chickens, although not necessarily with the same H7N9 strain, says Chenjun Pan, a meat and livestock specialist with Rabobank in Beijing. Guangdong in the south and Shandong and Henan provinces in north-central China have also carried out poultry culls.
Bird flu tends to hit in the winter, when the weather in southern China is rainy and chilly. Most but not all of the cases have occurred among people with exposure to poultry markets, where the virus can linger in puddles and damp cages.
Guangdong in southern China, like Zhejiang, has seen the second greatest number of human cases, with 26 new ones reported and four deaths in January.
Hong Kong, which imports much of its food from neighbouring Guangdong, confirmed one case at an agricultural market on Monday (Jan 20). It began the cull of 20,000 birds on Tuesday (Jan 21) and suspended imports of fresh poultry from mainland China for 21 days.