China H7N9 bird flu hits Taiwan
Iran Press TV
Wed Apr 24, 2013 3:31PM GMT
Taiwan authorities have confirmed a case of infection with H7N9 strain of bird flu in the island, the first reported case outside of China.
According to a statement released by Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday, a 53-year-old Taiwanese businessman was sickened by the bird flu virus after returning from the China's eastern coastal province of Jiangsu.
To date, the H7N9 avian influenza has claimed 22 lives in China. A total of 108 people have been infected by the virus.
China officially confirmed the occurrence of human infection with the new bird flu virus late last month and a research project was formally launched on April 10 to develop a vaccine for the H7N9.
The project, jointly undertaken by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Health and Family Planning Commission, aims to produce a vaccine for the virus within the next seven months.
This comes while, the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) sent a team of international experts to China to investigate the new bird flu virus.
According to Keiji Fukuda, one of the leading flu experts for the WHO, which has led the team "This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far…When we look at influenza viruses this is an unusually dangerous virus."
H7N9 is distinct from the H5N1 virus, which since 2003 has caused more than 360 confirmed human deaths and killed about tens of millions of birds.
MAM/JR
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