#12,061
No sooner that I had posted the last blog about Shanghai's second H7N9 case, the following report appeared on the Hunan CDC website:
A case of human infection with H7N9 was confirmed in Hunan province
Source: Central Office of Emergency
December 28, 2016, Hunan Province, confirmed a case of human infection with H7N9 influenza. Patients Yang Moumou, female, Shaoyang Longhui County, 53 years old, before the onset of close contact with poultry history, is actively treatment.
At present, the case of all close contacts were not fever, cough and other flu-like symptoms.
This is Hunan's first reported H7N9 case of the 2016-17 winter epidemic, although they did report a fatal H5N6 case in November. Since the H7N9 virus emerged in 2013, Hunan Province has reported 35 cases.
Since China abandoned their coordinated, real-time announcing of avian flu cases two years ago, we primarily rely upon rare media reports, intermittent provincial announcements, and often belated reporting to the WHO to track each winter's epidemic.
Which means we are likely only to hear about them in drips and drabs.
Traditionally, the peak of China's H7N9 epidemic occurs in January and February, so things are likely just getting started.
Stay tuned.
