Shanghai culling birds after flu detection
Iran Press TV
Fri Apr 5, 2013 1:53AM GMT
Authorities in Shanghai have begun slaughtering all birds following the detection of bird flu virus in an agricultural produce market.
China's Ministry of Agriculture announced on Thursday the H7N9 virus had been found from pigeon samples collected at the Huhuai market in Shanghai, Xinhua reported.
The ministry said the H7N9 strain found on pigeons was highly congenetic with those detected on people infected with the H7N9 virus.
Also on Thursday, two more avian flu-related deaths were reported in Shanghai, bringing the death toll to five across the country.
China has already confirmed 14 H7N9 cases in the cities of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.
“We don't know yet where the humans got their virus from,” Joseph Bresee, an epidemiologist in China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention's influenza division, was quoted as saying.
He added that the virus is unlikely to spread easily between humans.
There is no vaccine against the virus as it does not easily infect humans. The majority of those who died from bird flu had been infected by another strain of bird flu known as the H5N1 virus.
Since 2003, the H5N1 has caused more than 360 confirmed human deaths and has led to the deaths of tens of millions of birds.
KA/MHB
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