Credit CHP
# 8075
In their third letter in this month of December to local Doctors & Hospitals, Hong Kong’s CHP today notified local medical establishment about the latest H7N9 case detected in neighboring Guangdong Province. This letter not only provides details on the latest case, it recaps the recent detection of the virus in live markets in Shenzhen (see HK: Notification Of Positive H7N9 Test Results From Shenzhen Bird Markets)
16 December, 2013
Dear Medical Superintendent,Third Confirmed Case of Human Infection with Avian Influenza A(H7N9) Virus in Guangdong Province
Further to our letter to you dated 6 December 2013, we would like to inform you that an additional confirmed human case of avian influenza A(H7N9) was reported by the Guangdong Province on 15 December, 2013. The case involves a 39-year-old man in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. The patient had onset of fever, headache and fatigue on 6 December. He was admitted to hospital on 11 December and transferred to intensive care unit on 13 December because of breathing difficulty. He is currently in critical condition. His sample was tested positive for the avian influenza A(H7N9) virus by the relevant health authority of Guangdong Province on 15 December. Fifty-three close contacts of the patient have been put under medical surveillance and no abnormalities were found among them so far.
As of 15 December, a total of 141 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) infection have been confirmed in the Mainland across 10 provinces and 2 municipalities, including 47 deaths. The health authorities of Taiwan also reported one imported case from Jiangsu on 24 April. In addition, two cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus likely to be imported from Shenzhen of the Mainland were recorded in Hong Kong recently, making a total of 144 cases.
In addition, as part of the epidemiological investigation of the confirmed case, avian influenza A (H7N9) was also detected in three environmental samples collected from two live poultry markets in Longgang of Guangdong Province as reported by the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province on 11 December.The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) has been maintaining close liaison with the World Health Organization (WHO) and health authorities in the Mainland China to obtain information and monitor the latest development of the disease. According to the risk assessment of WHO (as of 7 October), most human cases have reported contact with poultry or live animal markets. As avian influenza A(H7N9) virus causes only subclinical infections in poultry, it is possible that the virus continues to circulate among poultry in Mainland China and perhaps in neighboring countries. As such, reports of additional human cases and infections in animals would not be unexpected, especially as the Northern Hemisphere autumn approaches.
We would like to urge you to pay special attention to those who presented with influenza-like illness and had history of visiting wet market with live poultry or contact with poultry in affected areas especially Guangdong Province within he incubation period (i.e. 10 days before onset of symptoms). Please kindly be reminded that the list of affected areas is regularly updated and is available at the CHP website (http://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/global_statistics_avian_influenza_e.pdf).
Any suspected case meeting the reporting criteria (https://ceno.chp.gov.hk/casedef/casedef.pdf) should be immediately reported to he Central Notification Office of CHP via fax (2477 2770), phone (2477 2772) or CENO On-line (www.chp.gov.hk/ceno). Please also contact the Medical Control Officer (MCO) of DH at Pager: 7116 3300 call 9179 when reporting any suspected case. DH will make arrangement to send the patient to regional public hospitals for isolation, testing and treatment. Please kindly isolate patient to minimize contact/exposure to staff and other patients and advise the patient to wear a surgical mask while waiting for transport.For updates on the latest situation of avian influenza, please visit CHP website at
http://www.chp.gov.hk/en/view_content/24244.html . Thank you for your ongoing support in combating communicable diseases.
Yours faithfully,
(Dr. SK CHUANG)
for Controller, Centre for Health Protection
Department of Health
