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| Hebei Province - Credit Wikipedia |
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Hebei province, which practically encircles Beijing - as of Tuesday's HK CHP update - had reported just 4 H7N9 cases during this 5th epidemic wave, and only 8 since the virus first emerged in 2013.
Like Beijing, and much of the rest of northern China, Hebei has been largely spared from dealing with H7N9. At least up until the past month or so. But as the FAO map below indicates, increasingly this spring, H7N9 is turning up in northern China.
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| Credit FAO May 4th - Modified with 39th Parallel line added |
Today, we've two reports suggesting that H7N9 activity in Hebei is heating up. First, from Sharon Sanders and Tetano on FluTrackers, we learn that Hebei Province announced 6 new human infections over the past week.
The brief (translated) official announcement reads:
H7N9 Outbreak Communications (Apr 28 - May 4)
Published: 2017-05-05 Source:
April 28, 2017 --5 4, the province reported a total of six cases of human infection with H7N9 cases, family planning and other health authorities have taken effective control measures.
We get a bit more information Hebei's H7N9 problems from China's Ministry of Agriculture, which released the following (translated) statement overnight on the mass culling of infected birds in Hebei province.
Ministry of Agriculture to strengthen the deployment of poultry H7N9 influenza prevention and control work
Date: 2017-05-05 17:49 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture Information Office
For the current H7N9 influenza prevention and control situation, the Ministry of Agriculture in the preliminary work on the basis of guidance around the animal husbandry and veterinary departments to further improve the prevention and control work. All around the requirements to do a good job monitoring and emergency treatment, the detection of pathogen positive or the outbreak of the farm households poultry, and resolutely culling and harmless treatment, the timely elimination of risks.
It is reported that on April 28, Xingtai County, Xingtai County, Hebei Province, the Department of Veterinary Medicine in the monitoring found a farm breeding chickens suspected bird flu symptoms, the incidence of 8500, 5000 deaths. April 30, Hebei Province, animal disease prevention and control center for the diagnosis of suspected avian influenza epidemic. May 5, by the National Avian Influenza reference laboratory confirmed the outbreak for the H7N9 flu epidemic. After the outbreak, the local according to the relevant plans and control technical requirements, adhere to the law prevention and control, scientific prevention and control, and effectively do the work of the epidemic, has been culling and harmless treatment of 80057 poultry. At present, the epidemic has been effectively controlled.null
Normally on Friday morning (Friday Evening China time), Hong Kong's CHP publishes an update from the Mainland's NHFPC, which provides us with the past week's tally of H7N9 cases reported by individual provinces.
For whatever reason, that report has (as of 0800 EDT) has yet to be posted.
Meanwhile, Shaanxi Province - which Announced Their 1st H7N9 Case only two days ago, appears to have detected a second case. It is not immediately clear if there is any epidemiological link between these cases.
This from Xinhua News:
Northwest China reports new H7N9 case
2017-05-05 10:56:10 GMT2017-05-05 18:56:10(Beijing Time)
XI'AN, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A new H7N9 virus infection was confirmed in the northwest China city of Xianyang, authorities announced Friday, following the death of another patient in the city days ago.
A 63-year-old male tested positive for the virus at 3 a.m. Friday. The patient was hospitalized in Xianyang on May 2 suffering fever, coughing and diarrhea, and was transferred to the provincial capital Xi'an.
All live poultry markets in Xianyang have been closed, examined and disinfected. Forty people who are suspected to have had contact with the patient have been isolated.
A 62-year-old man, the first H7N9 case reported in the province, died on May 1.
A total of 96 H7N9 virus cases were reported in China in March, of which 47 patients have died, according to the national health and family planning commission.
