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For the third time in three days (see Sunday’s Zhejiang Province Reports New H7N9 Case & Saturday’s Shanghai Reports New H7N9 Case) mainland China has reported fresh H7N9 cases, this time involving two separate incidents from Guangdong Province.
Hong Kong, which sits adjacent to Guangdong Province and has seen two imported cases thus far, takes notice anytime a new case is announced out of China, but doubly so when they come from right next door.
These cases are not unexpected, as the World Health Organization in their most recent Influenza at the Human-Animal Interface Monthly Risk Assessment advised:
Overall public health risk assessment for avian influenza A(H7N9) virus:
Sporadic human cases and small clusters would not be unexpected in previously affected areas of China,and possibly neighbouring countries. The current likelihood of community-level spread of this virus is considered to be low.
Continued vigilance is needed within China and neighbouring areas to detect infections in animals and humans. WHO advises countries to continue surveillance and other preparedness actions, including ensuring appropriate laboratory capacity.All human infections with non-seasonal influenza viruses such as avian influenza A(H7N9) are reportable to WHO under the International Health Regulations (IHR)2005.
While we continue to see widely scattered, sporadic human infections with the H7N9 virus - and a handful of small suspected clusters have been identified - so far we haven’t seen any signs of sustained or efficient human-to-human spread.
As with previously announced cases, scores of close contacts of today’s cases are being monitored for signs of infection, and as of this writing, none have shown signs of infection.
Here then is Hong Kong’s CHP’s announcement of these latest cases.
CHP notified by Guangdong HFPC of two additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9)
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) was notified by the Health and Family Planning Commission (HFPC) of Guangdong Province today (January 6) of two additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9).
The first case involves a 47-year-old male poultry worker who lives in Foshan. He developed symptoms on December 25, 2013, and was admitted to a hospital in Guangzhou on January 3. His specimen tested positive for avian influenza A(H7N9) virus by the relevant health authority of Guangdong Province today. He is currently in critical condition. Sixty close contacts of the patient have been put under medical surveillance by the relevant health authority of Guangdong Province. No abnormalities have been found among his close contacts so far.
The second case involves a 71-year-old man who lives in Yangjiang. He developed symptoms on January 1 and sought medical consultation from a local hospital on January 2. As his condition deteriorated, he was admitted on January 4. His specimen tested positive for avian influenza A(H7N9) virus by the relevant health authority of Guangdong Province today. He had no recent history of contact with poultry and is currently in critical condition. Sixty-five close contacts of the patient have been put under medical surveillance by the relevant health authority of Guangdong Province. No abnormalities have been found among his close contacts so far.
To date, a total of 148 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed on the Mainland. They are in Zhejiang (52 cases), Shanghai (34 cases), Jiangsu (28 cases), Guangdong (eight cases), Jiangxi (six cases), Fujian (five cases), Anhui (four cases), Henan (four cases), Beijing (two cases), Hunan (two cases), Shandong (two cases) and Hebei (one case).
The CHP will follow up with the Mainland health authorities for more case details.
"Locally, enhanced disease surveillance, port health measures and health education against avian influenza are ongoing. We will remain vigilant and maintain liaison with the World Health Organization (WHO) and relevant health authorities. Local surveillance activities will be modified upon the WHO's recommendations," a spokesman for the DH said.
All border control points (BCPs) have implemented disease prevention and control measures. Thermal imaging systems are in place for body temperature checks of inbound travellers. Suspected cases will be immediately referred to public hospitals for follow-up investigation.
Regarding health education for travellers at BCPs, distribution of pamphlets, display of posters in departure and arrival halls, in-flight public announcements, environmental health inspection and provision of regular updates to the travel industry via meetings and correspondence are all proceeding.
