An increase in the number of people in China infected withbird flu this year is raising concern among experts: a previously circulating strain appears to be «changed and could be more contagious to people». China has reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) 21 human infections with the subtype H5N6 of avian flu in 2021, compared to just 5 last year.
Although the numbers are far fewer than the hundreds of infected with H7N9 in 2017, the infections are heavy, causing many seriously ill and at least six deaths. «The rise in human cases in China this year is worrying. It is a virus that causes high mortality», explained Thijs Kuiken, professor of comparative pathology at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam.
Bird flu in China, variants alert
Most of the cases came into contact with poultry e «there are no confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission», the WHO said. Further investigations are «urgent to understand the risk and the increase in relapses on people», Reads a note reported by Reuters.
Rise in human bird flu cases in China shows risk of fast-changing variants, according to health experts https://t.co/ZiFCtm99oJ pic.twitter.com/9ciDKpVmO5
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 26, 2021
On October 13, a 60-year-old woman in Hunan province was hospitalized in critical condition with the H5N6 flu, according to a Hong Kong government statement. Although there have been reports of H5N6 in humans, there have been no reported H5N6 outbreaks in poultry in China since February 2020. China is the largest poultry producer in the world and the first producer of ducks, which act as a reservoir for influenza viruses. A recent study explains: «L‘increased genetic diversity and geographic distribution of H5N6 poses a serious threat to the poultry industry and human health».
Bird flu, still a human infection in China: “A 55-year-old hospitalized in critical condition”
I virus flu constantly circulate in domestic and wild birds, but rarely infect people. However, the evolution of viruses, which has increased with the growth of poultry populations, is a major concern because they could turn into a virus that easily spreads among people and cause a pandemic.
The largest number of H5N6 infections occurred in southwestern Sichuan province, although cases have also been reported in neighboring Chongqing and Guangxi, as well as in Guangdong, Anhui and Hunan provinces. At least 10 were caused by viruses genetically very similar to the H5N8 virus that devastated poultry farms across Europe last winter and killed wild birds in China. This suggests that the latest H5N6 infections in China could be a new variant.
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«It could be that this variant is a little more infectious (for people) … or there could be more of this virus in poultry at the moment which is why more people get infected»Kuiken said. Four of the Sichuan cases raised poultry at home and had been in contact with dead birds, according to a September report from the Chinese CDC. Another had bought a duck from a live poultry market a week before developing symptoms.
The vaccines – China vaccinates poultry against bird flu, but the vaccine used last year can only partially protect against emerging viruses, preventing major outbreaks but allowing the virus to «continue to circulate», added Filip Claes, coordinator of the regional laboratory at the Emergency Center for Animal Diseases of the Food and Agriculture Organization. Backyard farms in China are common, and many people still prefer to buy live chickens in the markets. Guilin city in the Guangxi region, which had two human cases in August, said last month it had suspended live poultry trade in 13 urban markets and abolished the trade within a year.
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