BEIJING â€" As four more people in China were diagnosed this week with a new strain of bird flu, bringing the total number of cases to seven, flu jitters were spreading again.
The new strain, H7N9, appears to have a high death rate, judging by the initial figures, but the World Health Organization has said it does not appear to be spreading by people-to-people contact, which would add substantial risk. Two people have already died and the five other people are in critical condition, according to media reports. But for now, the attitude should be: “no alarm, but no slacking,†according to an article in Eastday.com, a major news portal.
The news dominated the front pages of major dailies here in China such as the Beijing News, which gave details of the four new cases, all in Jiangsu province. Many commentators drew attention to the deaths of thousands of pigs recently, also in central-eastern China, when 15,000 dead animals were thrown into the Huangpu river that runs through Shanghai, and queried if there may be a link to the new disease. Shanghai health authorities have said none of the pigs tested were found to have the H7N9 virus, the People’s Daily online reported.
Hong Kong, which was hit hard by the SARS flu virus from China in 2003, is marking the 10th anniversary of that event, which traumatized the city. The South China Morning Post voiced its concerns about the new flu in an editorial titled: “Bird flu a reminder of things we dare not forgetâ€.
It took Chinese health authorities too long to inform the public about the recent H7N9 deaths, the editorial said.
“It took a month and three weeks before we learned of the deaths of the two men with H7N9,†it said. “In light of the lack of information which left Hong Kong unprepared for SARS, this has prompted questions about the notification system set up to avoid a similar situation.â€
“There is no evidence of human-to-human infection, but the virus seems to have mutated and the circumstances are worrying. Two sons of one of the dead men contracted pneumonia and one died, although H7N9 was not found in either of them. The World Health Organization says it is too early to rule out a link with dead pigs found floating in the Huangpu river, even if tests have not found it,†the newspaper wrote.
In addition, the newspaper wrote that one case was leaked to the media via the microblog account of an anonymous employee at a Nanjing hospital, flagging transparency issues.
Reports of the new flu strain sparked a stampede to buy shares in Chinese drug makers amid speculation it could create a spike in demand for related medicines, the newspaper wrote in another article. Currently there is no vaccine for the new flu.
“Shenzhen Neptunus Bioengineering, Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical, Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients and Beijing Tiantan Biological Products - four pharmaceutical firms that make vaccine or antibiotic products - rose by the daily limit of 10 per cent in Shanghai and Shenzhen,†it wrote.
In a more calming note, a professor of virology at Britain’s University of Reading told Reuters news agency there was no cause for alarm at this stage. “At the moment I don’t think it’s anything more than an unusual set of isolated cases,†Ian Jones said.
Since there was no evidence yet of human-to-human transmission, or of clusters of cases around those few confirmed so far, Mr. Jones said authorities should be watchful but need not enact emergency measures, Reuters reported.
“Of course we need to take account of these cases and follow up the contacts and so on, but I think that’s where it rests at the moment,†Mr. Jones said. “It’s far too soon to assume this is the start of something.â€
