Bird Flu Is Back....H7N9

Thrill

I've been following this from the start, when China announced the first three cases. Then four more were announced. Now the number is up to 43. 11 have died and scientists are worried.

For one thing H7N9 shows no symptoms in birds, so it can spread undetected. Its been detected in chickens, pigeons and quail.

It infects people easier than similar viruses.

H7N9 has a mammalian mutation meaning it is one step closer to human-to-human infection.

Of the first three victims, only two worked with or had contact with birds.

vaccines for other H7 viruses are having very little effect.

A vaccine may take months to create.

If anyone is thinking of going to China, you may want to hold off for a bit. So far it hasnt spread outside China but Asian countries are making preparations in case it does. Hopefully it remains contained.

The H7N9 strain, which is a new virus formed as a result of two others merging their genetic material, has features of viruses that are known to jump easily from birds to mammals, and a mutation that may help it attach to cells in the respiratory tract, said Ron Fouchier, a professor of molecular virology at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, in a telephone interview yesterday.


“That’s certainly not good news,” said Fouchier, who reviewed a gene sequencing of H7N9 published by Chinese health authorities. “This virus really doesn’t look like a bird virus anymore; it looks like a mammalian virus.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-05/new-bird-flu-seen-having-some-markers-of-airborne-killer.html

seven_eleven

Kind of want to play Pandemic 2 now.

brummytom

Great stuff, there hasn't been a potentially devastating disease for us to be terrified about for a few months now. Will this be like the last bird flu, where we can call in sick to work with a cold 'just to be on the safe side'?

Kylo Ren

Everyone to Madagascar!

Jester252

Keno 92 wrote: »

Everyone to Madagascar!

Its too late the borders are closed.

B.A._Baracus

I'll be honest I watched the movie Contagion and yeah stuff like this gets my full attention now :pac:

Ranicand

I smell something foul here.

pragmatic1

Ranicand wrote: »

I smell something foul here.

Yeah same here. I'd like to keep abreast of the situation.

uch

Quack Quack

Ranicand

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Yeah same here. I'd like to keep abreast of the situation.

Lets keep going on a wing and a prayer.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

Iv been saying it for years. If we dont bring in legislation to make it illegal for naked birds to be swanning aroud we are fupped!

Of course they are going to get the flu if they are in the nip in all that weather we are having.

The Dagda

Ah i remember when flu's had vowels. Then you knew you were sick! The good ole days...

Gatling

Oh for fecks sake
Only over swine flu 12 days in isolation because of it,

Ranicand

Gatling wrote: »

Oh for fecks sake
Only over swine flu 12 days in isolation because of it,

That's what you get for making a pig of yourself.:D

Jhcx

Zombies? Or are we safe?

Turtwig

Keno 92 wrote: »

Everyone to Madagascar!

Damn borders are already closed to me.:(

Thrill

I didn't think much of this at first as I thought they had a cure for bird flu already. Seems this one is a bit tougher to get rid of.

As long as they keep it confined to China until a cure is developed then there should be no worries, unless you're living there.

A colonel in the Chinese army has accused the U.S. of causing it, saying its biological warfare.

Ranicand

Thrill wrote: »

As long as they keep it confined to China until a cure is developed then there should be no worries, unless you're living there.

Yes because the Chinese have imposed a no fly zone near their borders for infected birds.:p

kraggy

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

I'll be honest I watched the movie Contagion and yeah stuff like this gets my full attention now :pac:

Contagion got my full attention too. For being a pile of bollocks.

B.A._Baracus

kraggy wrote: »

Contagion got my full attention too. For being a pile of bollocks.

That makes no sense :pac:

Turtwig

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

Aw naw! That's crazy talk fool! :pac:
*Bites a snickers*

FYP:pac:

Thrill

Ranicand wrote: »

Yes because the Chinese have imposed a no fly zone near their borders for infected birds.:p

The host is still unknown. China are now checking pigs in an attempt to track the host down.

Around 16,000 pigs and 1000 ducks were found floating dead in rivers not long before this outbreak. The cause of their deaths is unknown.

Another case of H7N9 has now turned up. This time in Beijing, its first case. A 7 year old girl.

OneArt

Jhcx wrote: »

Zombies? Or are we safe?

It's bird flu. So flying zombies. That shoot infected birds out of their mouths.

Doctor Jimbob

Thrill wrote: »

I've been following this from the start, when China announced the first three cases. Then four more were announced. Now the number is up to 43. 11 have died and scientists are worried.

For one thing H7N9 shows no symptoms in birds, so it can spread undetected. Its been detected in chickens, pigeons and quail.

It infects people easier than similar viruses.

H7N9 has a mammalian mutation meaning it is one step closer to human-to-human infection.

Of the first three victims, only two worked with or had contact with birds.

vaccines for other H7 viruses are having very little effect.

A vaccine may take months to create.

If anyone is thinking of going to China, you may want to hold off for a bit. So far it hasnt spread outside China but Asian countries are making preparations in case it does. Hopefully it remains contained.





http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-05/new-bird-flu-seen-having-some-markers-of-airborne-killer.html

Lol.

The Backwards Man

How many people die in work related accidents in China every day?

Alter-Ego

Worrying scientists is not cool! Something must be done.

Thrill

There are now 61 cases of H7N9, up from the 43 infections in the OP.The death toll has increased to 13.

Chinese scientists say the H7N9 virus can mutate 8 times faster than normal, faster than any virus except HIV. Russia has imposed some travel restrictions on its border with China and has advised its citizens against travel to the region.

The most worrying development in regards to containing this virus is that a new case has been found in Beijing, a boy aged 4, who has tested positive for H7N9 and is asymptomatic. He is showing no symptoms of the virus. Incidentally, this boy lives across the road from the 7 year old girl who caught it earlier and he was only tested because his parents sell poultry.

Beijing med-experts concluded: the boy is an H7N9 virus carrier. In order to ensure the boy's well being, the health authority has sent him to Ditan Hospital for further observation.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-15/symptom-free-bird-flu-case-suggests-wider-h7n9-spread.html

Symptom-Free Bird Flu Case Suggests Wider H7N9 Spread


Bird flu was found in a 4-year-old Beijing boy who has no symptoms of the infection, health authorities said, suggesting more people may be catching the H7N9 influenza virus than reported.

“With asymptomatic cases around, I think everything changes,” said Ian Mackay, an associate professor of clinical virology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, in a telephone interview today. “There has been a spike in pneumonia cases that have drawn the health officials’ attention, but the virus may have been going around as a normal cold.”

Map of current spread

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16277&d=1365975973

Source: flutrackers.com

Celly Smunt

Madagascar

Pherekydes

The Backwards Man wrote: »

How many people die in work related accidents in China every day?

Will work-related accidents spread here?

Thrill

The number of H7N9 cases increased to 77, including 16 deaths.


H7N9 evolving but has not fully mutated, may not necessarily become transmissible among humans, but it does have a mutated gene that makes such a possibility greater.
Health authorities in China say they do not know exactly how the virus is spreading, but it is believed to be crossing from birds to humans.
International experts are preparing to head to China to probe the outbreak.
Pigs ruled out as source/host.
4 year old "carrier" still showing no symptoms.
H7N9 detected in wild pigeons.
Samples of the virus is being sent to labs around the world.

Seoul toughens quarantine of passengers from China.
China’s poultry sector records losses of €1.2 billion in the week after the virus began infecting humans. China tells population to continue eating chicken. Population refusing.

China appears to have done a great job of containing the virus thus far. Heres hoping it continues.


Map of spread up to April 15 (64 cases)

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16278&d=1366085446

Source of map: flutrackers.com


http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=researchers-agree-puzzling-new-bird-flu-should-be-taken-seriously


Oh, nearly forgot. Madagascar.



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Pretty annoying living in Hanoi and teaching so many kids every week. Really hoping this thing doesn't get out of hand.