Taiwan reports 1st confirmed H7N9 case
Central News Agency
2013/04/24 19:15:02
Taipei, April 24 (CNA) A 53-year-old Taiwanese man who had worked in China's Jiangsu Province has tested positive for the H7N9 avian flu virus, the Central Epidemic Command Center said Wednesday.
The man, who is now in serious condition, is receiving treatment, including intubation, in a negative pressure quarantine ward, the center said.
It marked the first confirmed human infection of the new bird flu strain in Taiwan and also the first confirmed H7N9 case outside China, the center said.
The infection source of the first imported H7N9 case remained unknown as he neither came into contact with poultry or other birds during his stay in Jiangsu, nor had he eaten raw or undercooked eggs or poultry while there, the center said.
The patient fell ill three days after his return from China, the center went on, adding that 139 people are known to have come into contact with him.
Three of them had close contact, 26 had contact more than seven days ago, and 110 are hospital personnel.
The man is a hepatitis B carrier and also suffers from hypertension, the center said, adding that his H7N9 infection was confirmed Wednesday.
The center said it had informed the World Health Organization and China of the case earlier in the day.
China reported the world's first confirmed human infections of H7N9 March 31, and as of April 23, 108 cases had been confirmed in China, with 22 deaths.
Two of China's largest cities -- Shanghai and Beijing -- as well as five Chinese provinces -- Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan and Shandong -- have reported confirmed infections.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Garfie Li said Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta had already informed President Ma Ying-jeou of the case.
Ma urged the public to remain calm and not to panic, Li said, adding that the president has directed the Department of Health (DOH) to step up epidemic prevention and control and to keep the relevant information transparent.
As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Taiwan had reported 129 suspected H7N9 cases, 128 of which have been ruled out as the H7N9 infections, said Chou Jih-haw, deputy director-general of the DOH's Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The CDC said there is still no evidence that the H7N9 virus has mutated into a form that will allow sustained person-to-person transmissions.
About 60 percent of the confirmed cases in China had come into contact with poultry or other birds, or had been slaughtering live fowls, CDC officials said.
As two family clusters were detected in China, the officials did not rule out the possibility of limited human-to-human transmissions of the virus.
But they stressed that there is still no evidence confirming sustained person-to-person transmissions.
(By Lung Rui-yun and Sofia Wu)
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