The National Health and Family Planning Commission of China recently informed the World Health Organization (WHO) that it has diagnosed two additional human cases of avian influenza A (H7N9).
One patient is a 55-year-old woman and the other is a 53-year-old man. The woman began to feel sick on Sept. 18, and the man felt symptoms on Sept. 21. Both patients
live in Zhejiang province and had been exposed to poultry and live poultry markets.
There has not been any confirmed epidemiological connection between the two.
Health professionals in China have issued a list of surveillance and control measures to keep the virus from reaching epidemic proportions. The Chinese government has reinforced all of its efforts with medical treatment, and has also improved its situation analysis and outbreak surveillance. The government has also conducted
public
risk communication and education.
Currently, the WHO is still evaluating the epidemiological situation and conducting ongoing risk assessment, which is founded on the most recent information.
As of today, there is not a change in the overall public health risk for H7N9.
