Beijing: One more person in China has contracted the deadly H7N9 bird flu, taking to ten the total number of cases of the new strain of avian influenza in the country.
A 64-year-old man from Huzhou City in east China’s Zhejiang Province was diagnosed to have contracted the H7N9 bird flu strain after he tested positive following a March 29 illness, the provincial centre for disease control and prevention said on Wednesday.
Three persons have died due to the virulent disease in China amid rising public concerns as the new strain, discovered in the country in the past few weeks, has no medicine or vaccine to cure it.
Meanwhile, a man in central China’s Hunan Province died from an H1N1 flu strain. The 50-year old, surnamed Zhang, died on Monday after emergency treatment for more than a week failed in Yueyang, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Zhang was admitted to the No. 2 People’s Hospital in Yueyang on March 26 with symptoms of fever and cough. He was later transferred to an intensive care unit after suffering from breathing difficulties. A test by the city’s centre for disease control and prevention found Zhang was positive for a new strain of the H1N1 flu on March 27.
He died on April 1. Medical staff involved in the emergency treatment did not contract the H1N1 virus and family members of the deceased are still under medical observation in quarantine.
The new H1N1 flu, an acute respiratory illness having similar symptoms with the H1N1 flu, is caused by a new strain confirmed late last year by health authorities and can spread among humans. With spread of the deadly H7N9 flu, China’s health authorities have promised transparency and cooperation to the World Health Organization, Xinhua reported.
The WHO said it appreciates China’s cooperation and offered technical support, according to the statement. The two sides agreed to jointly evaluate the situation and potential risks, it added. Gregory Hartl, media officer for the WHO, said in Geneva on Wednesday that given the current evidence, the risk of an epidemic is low, the report said. (PTI)