tetano
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But Ho Pak-leung, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, noted in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that in the two months since it was first detected, the H7N9 flu has already resulted in almost twice as many confirmed infections in China as H5N1 caused there in a decade.
"H7N9 is much more transmissible to humans, and it's much more difficult to track down," he told the BMJ, adding: "We don't understand why it's so difficult to find."
He said he did not believe the difficulties were related to sampling techniques or testing levels, but thought it could be that virus can only be detected in infected animals for a few days, meaning the timing of tests could be important.
"It (also) might be that they are not sampling enough animal species, and they may have to take a look at the less common species of birds being sold in Chinese markets," he said.
The WHO's China representative, Michael O'Leary, issued data on Friday showing that half of the patients analyzed had no known contact with poultry, the most obvious potential source, but he said it appeared human-to-human transmission was rare.
Some bird samples have tested positive and China has culled thousands of birds and shut down some live poultry markets.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/22/us-birdflu-china-idUSBRE93L0EF20130422
But Ho Pak-leung, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, noted in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that in the two months since it was first detected, the H7N9 flu has already resulted in almost twice as many confirmed infections in China as H5N1 caused there in a decade.
"H7N9 is much more transmissible to humans, and it's much more difficult to track down," he told the BMJ, adding: "We don't understand why it's so difficult to find."
He said he did not believe the difficulties were related to sampling techniques or testing levels, but thought it could be that virus can only be detected in infected animals for a few days, meaning the timing of tests could be important.
"It (also) might be that they are not sampling enough animal species, and they may have to take a look at the less common species of birds being sold in Chinese markets," he said.
The WHO's China representative, Michael O'Leary, issued data on Friday showing that half of the patients analyzed had no known contact with poultry, the most obvious potential source, but he said it appeared human-to-human transmission was rare.
Some bird samples have tested positive and China has culled thousands of birds and shut down some live poultry markets.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/22/us-birdflu-china-idUSBRE93L0EF20130422