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We've additional information this morning on yesterday's report (see HK CHP Notified Of 14 New H7N9 Cases From The Mainland) of the first H7N9 case from Tibet (China's Xizang Autonomous Region).
Based on the statement (below) from the Tibet Autonomous Region Health & Family Planning Commission, the patient - a 41 year old migrant worker from neighboring Sichaun Province - arrived in Tibet sometime in February to work in the poultry trade, and fell ill in early April.While Sichuan Province has reported H7N9 for the very first time this year (11 cases), the recognized incubation period for H7N9 is 10 days or less, meaning this patient almost certainly acquired his infection after arriving in Tibet. The patient is currently hospitalized in a Lhasa hospital.
Assuming he contracted the virus somewhere nearby, this means the virus has now been found uncomfortably close to China's southern border with Bhutan, Indian, and Nepal.While H7N9 has only been found on, or exported from, Mainland China - there are legitimate concerns by surrounding countries that the virus will eventually migrate beyond China's border (see China's Nervous Neighbors).
A translation of the original official statement follows:
Lhasa City, a case of H7N9 cases
Source: original Published: 2017-04-07 17:04:11
On April 3, 1 case of human infection with H7N9 virus was confirmed in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The patient is male, 41 years old is Sichuan migrant workers, since February 2017 into Tibet, has been engaged in live poultry trade.
At present in the autonomous region infectious disease specialist hospital third people hospital hospital isolation treatment. April 2, found the suspected cases, the autonomous region CDC immediately sampled to carry out laboratory testing, and sent to the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention for laboratory review to confirm the existence of H7N9 virus. April 3, the autonomous region Health and Health Committee organized clinical medicine, epidemiology and virology experts consultation, combined with clinical manifestations of patients, epidemiological history and laboratory test results, diagnosed with human infection H7N9 cases.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, the regional party committee and government attach great importance to the regional party secretary Wu Yingjie, deputy secretary of the regional party committee, chairman Qi Zala, deputy party secretary of the autonomous region, executive vice chairman Ding industry is personally arranged to deploy, Vice President Deji, Chairman and other autonomous regions to lead the front line command.
In accordance with the principle of territorialization management, the district health hygiene committee, agriculture and animal husbandry, industry and commerce and other 17 autonomous regions H7N9 defense joint control work group members in close cooperation, and actively respond, take effective measures to treat patients, to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Including the closure of the live poultry market, the suspension of live poultry trade; to carry out close contact with patients and high-risk exposure of the follow-up survey and symptom monitoring; to strengthen medical institutions at all levels, clinics and fever and unexplained cases of pneumonia case monitoring reports and other measures.
Human infection H7N9 cases of high mortality, can be transmitted through the respiratory tract and close contact, is a kind of animal-borne diseases, mainly through contact with live birds and infection, spread between people very weak. The epidemic is an occasional case, our area has taken effective measures to control the spread of the epidemic, the risk of epidemic is very low, but does not rule out the possibility of occasional cases.null
