5 Dead From Bird Flu in China

China announced a sixth death from a new bird flu strain Friday, while authorities carried out the slaughter of all poultry at a Shanghai market where the virus was detected in pigeons being sold for meat.

The mass bird killing is the first so far as the Chinese government responds to the H7N9 strain of bird flu, which has sickened 14 people, many critically, along the eastern seaboard in its first known infections of people. The first cases were announced Sunday.

Health officials believe people are contracting the virus through direct contact with infected fowl and say there has been no evidence so far that the virus is spreading easily between people. However, scientists are watching closely to see if the flu poses a substantial risk to public health or could potentially spark a global pandemic.

The Agriculture Ministry confirmed late Thursday that the H7N9 virus had been detected in live pigeons on sale at a produce market in Shanghai. The killing of birds at the Huhuai market in Shanghai started Thursday night after the city's agricultural committee ordered it in a notice also posted on its website.

State media on Friday ran pictures of animal health officials in protective overalls and masks working through the night at the market, taking notes as they stood over piles of poultry carcasses in plastic bags.

AP

A worker spays disinfectant liquid on to chicken cages at a wholesale market on Thursday, April 4, 2013, in Shanghai, China. In a worrisome sign, a bird flu in China appears to have mutated so that it can spread to other animals, raising the potential for a bigger threat to people, scientists said Wednesday. (AP Photo) Close

The area was guarded by police and cordoned off with plastic tape.

Experts urged Chinese health authorities to keep testing healthy birds, saying the H7N9 virus can infect birds without causing disease, making it harder to detect than the H5N1 bird flu virus that is more familiar to Asian countries. H5N1 set off warnings when it began ravaging poultry across Asia in 2003 and has since killed 360 people worldwide, mostly after close contact with infected birds.

"In the past usually you would see chickens dying before any infections occurred in humans, but this time we've seen that many species of poultry actually have no apparent problems, so that makes it difficult because you lose this natural warning sign," said David Hui, an infectious diseases expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Officials in Shanghai have intensified checks on live birds, doing daily instead of weekly inspections, according to Cheng Honggou, 43, who sells poultry at a market elsewhere in the city. Cheng's earnings were already hurt by concerns over the virus, he said, adding he used to sell 40 or so chickens a day but had only managed two on Friday morning.

"You can imagine how bad the business is recently," Cheng said. "I hope the situation will be in control and be over soon."

Pigeon is a common type of poultry in Chinese cuisine and the birds are sold live in markets around the country. The Chinese also raise pigeons as pets, but those tend to be a different type.

Hui said the pigeons were probably infected by wild or migratory birds, whose droppings can carry viruses. He said they were likely not the only species of poultry to be carrying the virus.

While health officials caution that there are no indications the virus can be transmitted from one person to another, scientists who have studied its genetic sequence said this week that the virus may have recently mutated into a form that spreads more easily to other animals, potentially posing a bigger threat to humans.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/bird-flu-strain-death-china-18879747

the great gatsby jay leno Mike Rice yu darvish Skylar Diggins kim jong un Facebook Phone