#16,141
China's uptick in human H5N6 infections continues today with news of their 41st case since 2014, and the 17th case reported out of China since last December. Today's case involves a 55-year-old farmer from Guangxi Province with poultry contact who fell ill on August 17th, and is currently in critical condition.
This is the 2nd case reported from Guangxi over the past 30 days, and the 4th case reported by China during the month of August.
First the announcement from Hong Kong's CHP, then I'll return with a brief postscript.
CHP closely monitors human case of avian influenza A(H5N6) in Mainland
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (August 23) closely monitoring a human case of avian influenza A(H5N6) in the Mainland, and again urged the public to maintain strict personal, food and environmental hygiene both locally and during travel.
The case involves a 55-year-old man living in Liuzhou, Guangxi. He is a farmer and had contact with live poultry. He developed symptoms on August 17 and was admitted for treatment on the same day. The patient is in critical condition.
From 2014 to date, 41 human cases of avian influenza A(H5N6) have been reported by Mainland health authorities.
"All novel influenza A infections, including H5N6, are notifiable infectious diseases in Hong Kong," a spokesman for the CHP said.
(SNIP)
Ends/Monday, August 23, 2021
Issued at HKT 19:37
(Continue . . . )
While we've not seen any obvious clustering of cases (other than a husband & wife in Hunan province who likely shared an exposure), the recent spate of H5N6 cases - particularly in late summer - is concerning, as this is normally the slowest time of the year for avian flu transmission.
Avian H5N6, which had been well controlled in China between 2017 and mid-2020 due to their highly successful nationwide H5+H7 poultry vaccination program (see OFID: Avian H5, H7 & H9 Contamination Before & After China's Massive Poultry Vaccination Campaign) now appears to be spreading widely, and stealthily, in poultry across south-central China.
The last outbreak of H5N6 reported by China's MOA was in April, in wild birds in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, raising the possibility that H5N6 is now spreading asymptomatically in poultry.
So far - and unlike H5N1 and H5N8 - H5N6 has remained mostly a problem for China, Vietnam, and Laos. This uptick in H5N6 cases in China, just prior to the fall migration of birds, is something we will be watching closely in the months ahead.
