As bird flu spreads, death toll reaches 16
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The death toll caused by the H7N9 virus continues to rise. Chinese authorities said that the new strain claimed two more lives in Shanghai, bringing the death toll from the disease to 16. Some 77 human cases of H7N9 avian influenza have been recorded since they found the strain in people for the first time two weeks ago.
The new outbreak appeared to be confined in the east of the country with most cases in Shanghai and nearby Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui. However, on 13 April the first case was reported in Beijing, involving a seven-year-old girl, and has since spread west since then to the central province of Henan.
Shanghai remains the centre of the health emergency. Some 30 cases, including 11 deaths, have now been reported in the coastal city.
Eight of the people to have contracted H7N9 bird flu are said to be in critical condition. The three cases in Jiangsu involve a 21-year-old woman, and two men, aged 56 and 72.
The other five were in Zhejiang, where three men and two women aged between 56 and 72, are being treated in provincial hospitals.
The World Health Organisation announced it was sending a group of international experts to China to study the outbreak, but added that there was no evidence yet of the virus mutating into a form easily transmissible between humans, which would have the potential to trigger a pandemic.
Meanwhile, the poultry sector has been hit hard, losing more than 10 billion yuan (US$ 160 million).
Although high-quality chicken is selling for 4 yuan per kilogram, down from 16 yuan, sales have not picked up.
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