There is a new bird flu that has
just recently broken out in China within the last two months. Health officials
are already currently working on seed strains so they can make vaccines quickly
should they be necessary. The bird flu has already killed 6 of the 16 people
who have gotten it. This is a 37% mortality rate that is scaring public health
officials. They have named the strain H7N9 and it appears to be transmitted
directly from poultry. Chinese officials are trying to help stop the spread of
the strain by slaughtering more than 20,000 birds in a Shanghai poultry
market. According to public health
officials there is no evidence that the virus is being transmitted between
people and there are not current cases in the United States. However high
aggressive surveillance has become paramount to keep from having a case like
SARS. The biggest concern about H7N9 is
that it is a new strain that hasn’t been seen in humans before, but it appears
the only way to get the bird flu is to be in close contact with sick poultry.
It is very wonderful to see how
proactive the government and health officials are being about this bird flu,
H7N9. The world certainly doesn’t want
to see it spread like SARS did. However the Chinese are being much more open
about the bird flu unlike 10 years ago when they were very secretive and the
world’s health community was very frustrated.
If the case was to change and the bird flu could be transmitted from
person to person, we have more assurance that it wouldn’t spread quite as far
or quickly because strains of the bird flu are currently being reproduced. It is very important that it be contained
because it could cause a world crisis killing off much of the population. The world is to thank the Chinese for being proactive.
Natalie White
April 5, 2013
2:25 p.m.
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