Credit FAO
# 8251
We’ve a couple of follow up reports on yesterday’s statement by China’s Minister of Agriculture regarding whether poultry are the source of H7N9 human infections (see China’s MOA Disputes Poultry As Source Of H7N9 Infections).
Our first stop is CIDRAP NEWS, where Lisa Schnirring not only recaps yesterday’s parade of H7N9 stories, but also delves deeper into the issues surrounding the reliability of the testing procedures being used by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture to detect the H7N9 virus in poultry.
As usual, Lisa makes coherent our daily jumble of H7N9 stories. Follow the link below to read:
China’s second H7N9 wave tops spring wave
Lisa Schnirring | Staff Writer | CIDRAP News
|
Jan 30, 2014
Pushing the number of cases in the second H7N9 influenza wave higher than the first, China reported six more cases today, as well as two more deaths, one of which involved a previously confirmed case.
Today’s new cases lift the number reported in the second wave to 137, topping the 136 cases reported during the first wave last spring.
The country’s agriculture ministry also downplayed the role of poultry in spreading the disease based on its surveillance results, raising questions about whether the techniques used are the best for gauging infection levels in flocks.
And from down under, Ian Mackay looks at the issue of poultry as the likely vector of H7N9 in:
If not poultry then what?
Mike Coston has written a nice post about the Chinese MOA denying that there is any proof of direct transmission of H7N9 from poultry to humans.
Technically, they are of course correct.
We have yet to see a human put in a cage downwind, but separated from, a flock of infected chickens or duck or geese to see if the human acquires H7N9 infection and disease. Nor have we seen any card-playing lockdown transmission scenarios to investigate aerosol, droplet and direct transmission routes.
Ian also has posted an updated H7N9 Snapdate Chart, showing the avian virus’s activity by month both in 2013 and 2014.
H7N9 snapdate: cases in 2013 vs 2014...
Since I started tracking this beastie (and this blog) in April 2013, I've tended to use weekly data - because more is more!
This one presents the data by month and it really highlights that - at least to date - human infections with H7N9 have been focused on a single month.
All three reports are highly recommended.
