BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China's health authorities have promised transparency and cooperation to the World Health Organization (WHO) in regards to human infections of a new strain of bird flu.
On Wednesday afternoon, the National Health and Family Planning Commission briefed officials from the WHO China office on the latest developments in H7N9 avian influenza infections and the country's countermeasures, according to a statement posted on the commission's official website on Thursday.
"China will maintain open and transparent exchanges with the WHO and other countries and regions, step up monitoring and adopt proper measures," the statement said.
As of Wednesday, nine human infections of H7N9 avian influenza, including three deaths, had been confirmed in China. So far, all of the infections have been among people from provinces in east China and Shanghai Municipality.
The WHO said it appreciates China's cooperation and offered technical support, the statement said.
The two sides agreed to jointly evaluate the situation and potential risks, it added.
Gregory Hartl, media officer for the WHO, said in Geneva on Wednesday (local time) that given the current evidence, the risk of an epidemic is low.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that no human-to-human transmission of H7N9 has been discovered and no epidemiological connection between these cases has been found.
HANGZHOU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Another H7N9 bird flu case has been confirmed in east China's Zhejiang Province, the provincial health department said Thursday, bringing the country's total number of cases to 10.
The patient is a 64-year-old man from Huzhou City. He became ill on March 29 and was admitted to a hospital in Huzhou on March 31. Full story
BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese public have been advised against slaughtering poultry for ancestral worship on the upcoming Tomb-Sweeping Day as authorities strengthen H7N9 bird flu control efforts after three deaths of the newly-found strain that has not previously been detected in humans.
The Tomb-Sweeping Day that falls on Thursday will be an occasion to commemorate the dead, when traditionally some southern Chinese regions have the convention of killing poultry for ancestral worship. Full story
GENEVA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The reservoir of H7N9 virus and its transmission mode in China could be the two most important points for the ongoing investigations and the risk of epidemic is low given the current evidence, said a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO) Wednesday.
Gregory Hartl, media officer for WHO, reconfirmed that to date, the organization has no evidence of human-to-human transmission and the source of the infection is still an open question. Full story
BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The news of two men dying from a new variant of bird flu has reminded Chinese of the SARS pandemic that hit the country one decade ago. Many are wondering if the government will handle the situation any better than it did in 2003, should another pandemic break out.
For many Chinese, the spring of 2003 was marked by the appearance of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which took the lives of several hundred people on the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Full story
BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Agriculture said Wednesday that epidemiological investigations have found no H7N9 bird flu infections in animals.
Experts from the ministry said it remained unknown where the virus came from and how it had spread. Full story
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