Photo Credit – WHO
# 7153
While infected poultry are considered the prime suspects for the spread of the H7N9 avian flu virus in Eastern China, so far, only a handful of live-market birds (and 1 wild pigeon) have actually tested positive for the virus.
This report from Xinhua indicates that out of thousands of samples tested, only 39 have returned positive results. And of those, all but one were found at live markets, and none were found on commercial farms.
H7N9 still confined to live poultry markets: authorities
English.news.cn 2013-04-17 19:27:40
BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Animal infections of the H7N9 avian flu have only been detected in live poultry markets and a single wild pigeon, agricultural authorities said Wednesday.
Of the 47,801 samples collected from more than 1,000 poultry markets, habitats, farms and slaughterhouses across the country, 39 samples have tested positive for the virus, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.
Of the 39 positive samples, 38 came from live poultry markets in east China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, central China's Anhui Province and the city of Shanghai.
A wild pigeon tested positive for the virus in Jiangsu.
The virus has not been detected in pigs, the ministry said.
Unstated in this report is the type of testing that has been performed, and the supposed sensitivity of those tests.
In a related report filed by Dr. Richard Besser for ABC News this morning, he describes the poultry testing methods he observed being used in Hong Kong:
Hong Kong Screening Chinese Poultry for Bird Flu
By RICHARD BESSER (@DrRichardBesser) , M.D.
HONG KONG, April 17, 2013
(EXCERPT)
They selected 30 chickens at random from the thousand or so in the truck. Each bird had the same fate: a sample of blood was drawn; a cloacal swab was obtained; and the bird was returned to its cage. The whole operation from the time the truck pulled in to when it departed with a fresh seal took no more than 30 minutes. By law, the seal cannot be removed until at least five hours later, when the rapid testing for H7N9 is completed.
But I still have a few unanswered questions: How good is the rapid test for H7N9? And is testing 30 chickens enough? Perhaps you need to test more to be certain that the flock is clean.
Good questions that might just as easily apply to the test results we are getting from China’s Ministry of Agriculture.
For now, the mystery as to how this virus has jumped to nearly 80 people remains unanswered.
