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| WHO Avian Flu Risk Assessment - May 2016 |
#11,421
Based on the limited reporting we've been getting out of China, this winter-spring H7N9 epidemic wave appears to be smaller than the past three, although delays and gaps in reporting make it difficult to fully assess.
Several provinces which have previously reported H7N9 activity have been conspicuously absent from this year's reporting (see HK CHP List below), including Beijing Municipality.
But buried in a weekly epidemiology report on the Beijing Municipality Health and Family Planning site we find a 1 line reference to an H7N9 case recorded there last week.
Time: 2016-05-30Source: Beijing Disease Control Department of Health and Family Planning Commission
First, before the epidemic
2016 Week 21 (2016 May 23 to 29), the city reported a total of 19 kinds of legal infectious diseases 2675 cases and 3 deaths. Before five reported cases of the diseases were: foot and mouth disease, other infectious diarrhea, dysentery, tuberculosis and syphilis, which together account for 86.13% of the number of reported cases of legal infectious diseases.
This week the city case report of human infection with H7N9 avian influenza cases, patients Tongzhou District, male, 49 years old.
(Continue . . . )
Never a hotbed of H7N9 activity, this would make only the 7th case reported by Beijing since the virus first appeared in 2013.
Ten days ago Hebei province also reported their first H7N9 case of the year (see Hebei Province Reports Rare H7N9 Case), which was only their 2nd case ever reported.
A pair of late season infections in relatively rare locations like Hebei and Beijing are worth noting, but in its short history, late May is usually the last hurrah for avian H7N9 until fall.
We'll be watching to see if that pattern persists this summer as well.
