A new strain of bird flu has claimed the lives of four more victims in China, according to Reuters. The death toll from the H7N9 virus has now hit 31. The number of infected individuals has reached 129. This news comes after reports of a recent
Two of the victims died in the eastern province of Jiangsu. One victim was from eastern Zhejiang and another from central Anhui.
According to Chinese health officials, there are two new infections in the province of Fujian. Previously, the virus did not appear to be spreading outside of Shanghai. However, it has now made its way to Fujian.
Currently, the World Health Organization does not have evidence that leads to them to believe the disease can be easily passed from human to human.
"With any new influenza virus that emerges, the concern is that it could genetically mutate to become easily transmissible between human beings," Raina MacIntyre, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of New South Wales, said according to Newsday. "With all past pandemics, and even with SARS, they were spread around the world by travel."
Chinese scientists say humans have caught the virus from chickens. However, the WHO explained 40 percent of the infected have not come in contact with the meat, according to Reuters.
The virus has even reached Taiwan, according to Newsday. Minister of Health Chiu Wen-ta, has confirmed a 53-year old man contracted the flu after he went on a business trip to Suzhou and returned to Taiwan by going through Shanghai. Like the 40 percent referenced by the WHO, this man—who is in a isolation room in critical condition—did not have any contact with birds or chickens.
This strain of bird flu is not able to create a pandemic in its current state, according to the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, there is now way to know that it won’t mutate and become more dangerous.
