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| Jiangsu Province - Credit Wikipedia |
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Although I've found not any official announcement from the Jiangsu Provincial government, Taiwan's CDC is reporting today that a Taiwanese businessman living in Jiangsu Province is hospitalized with the H7N9 virus.
This would make the 3rd such case in Jiangsu Province since the start of the fall epidemic wave.
The following press release from Taiwan's CDC explains that when the businessman's son returned from China he promptly alerted authorities as to his father's infection, and his potential exposure.
Taiwan CDC commends suspected H7N9 influenza patient for voluntarily notifying quarantine officer at airport upon arrival
( 2016-01-12 )
In the evening of January 8, 2016, a 26-year-old male who resides in northern Taiwan voluntarily notified the quarantine officer at Taipei Songshan Airport upon his arrival from Jiangsu Province, China despite his normal body temperature and without having any symptoms. However, he had come into a suspected H7N9 influenza patient during his trip to China. After initial assessment by the quarantine officer at the airport, his risk of becoming infected with the virus is deemed low. Therefore, the passenger was allowed to return home after given relevant health education and being asked to conduct self-health management. In the same evening, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) immediately contacted the relevant health authority in China to find out if any Taiwanese businessman in China had become infected with H7N9 influenza. As of now, the passenger has not experienced any symptoms and the Chinese health authority informed Taiwan CDC that the nasopharyngeal swab collected from the passenger in China tested negative for the H7N9 influenza virus.
Taiwan CDC appreciates the passenger’s vigilance and effort in voluntarily notifying the quarantine officer about his probable infection and complying with subsequent prevention measures and follow-up activities. As effective disease prevention and control require both government and public engagement efforts, Taiwan CDC urges the public to the passenger’s example and help ward off infectious diseases together.
According to the epidemiological investigation, the passenger visited his father who does business in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China in late December and he returned to Taiwan in the end of December. On January 5, when he was told that his father was severely ill, he visited China again. As his father was hospitalized in critical condition in the intensive care unit, he did not come into contact with his father. On January 5, besides the father, nasopharyngeal swabs were also collected from the passenger and a family friend who had previously come into contact with the father by the Chinese health authority. On January 11, the swabs came back negative for the H7N9 influenza virus. Only the father was tested positive for the virus. Taiwan CDC will continue to closely monitor the health of the passenger and his father. When necessary, Taiwan CDC will send a medical officer to Kunshan to better understand the father’s condition and conduct relevant health education to the Taiwanese businessmen and people living there.
Since October 1, 2015, a cumulative total of 23 H7N9 influenza infections, including 14 cases in Zhejiang Province, 3 cases in Guangdong Province, 3 cases in Jiangsu Province, 2 cases in Shanghai City, and 1 case in Jiangxi Province, have been confirmed in China. The majority of them are aged over 50 peasants and poultry workers and had a history of live poultry exposure. Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 700 H7N9 influenza infections, including 275 deaths announced by WHO on December 14, 2015, have been confirmed in China (680), Hong Kong (13), Taiwan (4), Canada (2), and Malaysia (1). Currently, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for avian influenza to Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Anhui Province, Hunan Province, Jiangxi Province, Jiangsu Province, and Shanghai City, and a travel notice of Level 1: Watch for avian influenza to the other provinces and cities in China, excluding Hong Kong and Macau.
Taiwan CDC advises travelers visiting China to practice good personal hygiene such as washing hands with soap and water frequently and putting on a mask when coughing and take preventive measures such as avoiding direct contact with poultry and birds or their droppings/dead bodies, and consuming only thoroughly cooked poultry and eggs to ward off avian influenza infection. If influenza-like illness symptoms develop upon arriving in Taiwan, please voluntarily notify the airline crew and the quarantine officer at the quarantine station in the airport. If the aforementioned symptoms such as fever and cough develop after returning to Taiwan, please put on a surgical mask and seek immediate medical attention. Moreover, please inform the physician of the recent travel and exposure history to facilitate diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).
Meanwhile Hong Kong's CHP has posted a notification of 8 recent H7N9 cases from Mainland China (occurring from November & December), all of which have been previously mentioned in this blog and/or are on FluTrackers' H7N9 Tracking list.
CHP notified of eight additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) in Mainland
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (January 12) received notification of eight additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) with onset of symptoms between November 24 and December 24, 2015, from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and again urged the public to maintain strict personal, food and environmental hygiene both locally and during travel. They comprise:
1. A male farmer aged 65 in Huzhou, Zhejiang, with exposure to a poultry market in critical condition;
2. A woman aged 51 in Pinghu, Zhejiang, with poultry contact who died on December 25, 2015;
3. A male farmer aged 77 in Tongxiang, Zhejiang, with exposure to a poultry market who died on December 11, 2015;
4. A woman aged 41 in Wuxi, Jiangsu, with exposure to a poultry market in serious condition;
5. A woman aged 52 in Changshu, Jiangsu, with exposure to a poultry market in critical condition;
6. A male farmer aged 53 in Huzhou, Zhejiang, with exposure to a poultry market in critical condition;
7. A woman aged 58 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, with exposure to poultry slaughtering in critical condition; and
8. A woman aged 29 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, with exposure to a poultry market in critical condition.
(Continue . . . )
