Dozens of Bird Flu cases confirmed in south China’s Guangdong

World Today

More human infections have been reported in the bird flu outbreak in Southern China. Guangdong Province registered 28 cases of H7N9 since November 2014. Among them, 25 were discovered in January. Guangzhou city also reported one patient with H5N6 bird flu, the World’s second case. CCTV’s Wu Lei reported this story from South China’s Guangdong province.

On last Friday, the Guangdong Health department confirmed that a man by the name of Mr Qiu succumbed to fever after after buying a live chicken in December. He was diagnosed with the virus several days after. This was the world’s second case of the virus, which killed one other person in Sichuan province in May 2014.

“We used anti-influenza drugs, the patient was firstly treated in Qifu hospital with medicine. After transferring into the first affiliated hospital of Guangzhou medical university, we doubled the dosage. ” Dr. Zhong Nanshan, the health expert of Chinese Academy of Engineering said.

Mr Qiu was in stable condition following days of treatment at the hospital but doctors are cautious. They said most bird flu cases in humans stem from exposure to infected poultry. The H7N9 bird flu has already drawn widespread concern in several provinces and municipalities in Southern China, as reported cases of human infections climb.

“Guangdong Health department has reported 28 cases of H7N9 Bird Flu since last November, among them 25 cases were found in this January. Most of these patients are now in critical condition, they all had close contact with live poultry in the market. ” He Jianfeng, Chief expert of Guangdong provincial center for Disease Control and Prevention said.

In addition to Guangdong, Shanghai and Jiangsu along the eastern Chinese coast have all reported human cases of H7N9. Dr. Zhong Nanshan said residents should take more precautions.

“If anyone incurs fever or cough after having close contact with the live poultry, we call this one a highly suspected case. Early medical treatment is desperately needed. ” Dr. Zhong Nanshan said.

Doctors say early detection of the H5N6 virus strain is key to more efficient quarantine and successful treatment of the virus.