by Kristina Chew, care2.com, 8 April 2013
Seven people have died and 24 have been sickened in China from a new strain of bird flu, H7N9. Chinese authorities have ordered the slaughter of 20,000 birds in a live poultry market in Shanghai, after a pigeon with the virus was detected there. So far, no humans have reportedly been infected with the virus by another human, though one person who had been in contact with one of those who died from H7N9 has been quarantined after exhibiting flu-like symptoms.
The victims include a 4-year-old child and 15 adults, including an 87-year-old man in Shanghai. All those who have died became ill between February 19 and March 31 and have had some connection to the poultry markets; the most recent person reported to have died from H7N9 is a 38-year-old chef, surnamed Hong, who worked in Jiangsu (the province next to Shanghai). Chinese officials have been tracking 100 people with close connections to those who became ill and none have become sick yet, NBC reports.
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