China sought yesterday to allay fears over the threat of a bird flu pandemic after three people died from the disease this month and a fourth person remained critically ill.
There was no evidence that the potential for an outbreak of the disease was on the rise, China’s health ministry said in a statement.
“The four cases separately came from different provinces. There is no epidemiological connection between them; they are sporadic cases,” the ministry said.
A 16-year-old boy died on Tuesday from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Hunan Province.
A 27-year-old woman in Shandong Province also succumbed to the disease on Saturday, while the first fatality occurred on Jan. 5 when a 19-year-old woman died in Beijing.
The total number of reported deaths in China since the virus re-emerged in 2003 now stands at 23.
A two-year-old girl, meanwhile, is still critically ill in Shanxi Province, the ministry said.
The toddler’s mother died this month of severe pneumonia, sparking concern that she may actually have had bird flu and passed it on to her daughter.
Scientists have long feared the virus could mutate to a form that could jump easily from human to human, potentially sparking a pandemic.
The health ministry said it was unable to do tests to confirm whether the mother had died of avian influenza, as no samples were collected when she passed away.
But it added it was unlikely the girl caught bird flu from her mother.
“We cannot be sure that the patient’s mother had bird flu, and investigations show the patient had been exposed to live poultry markets,” the statement said.
“Therefore, we believe the patient’s infection most likely came from a live poultry market or another unknown exposure,” it said.
The WHO says about 250 people have died from bird flu worldwide since 2003.China sought yesterday to allay fears over the threat of a bird flu pandemic after three people died from the disease this month and a fourth person remained critically ill.
There was no evidence that the potential for an outbreak of the disease was on the rise, China’s health ministry said in a statement.
“The four cases separately came from different provinces. There is no epidemiological connection between them; they are sporadic cases,” the ministry said.
A 16-year-old boy died on Tuesday from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Hunan Province.
A 27-year-old woman in Shandong Province also succumbed to the disease on Saturday, while the first fatality occurred on Jan. 5 when a 19-year-old woman died in Beijing.
The total number of reported deaths in China since the virus re-emerged in 2003 now stands at 23.
A two-year-old girl, meanwhile, is still critically ill in Shanxi Province, the ministry said.
The toddler’s mother died this month of severe pneumonia, sparking concern that she may actually have had bird flu and passed it on to her daughter.
Scientists have long feared the virus could mutate to a form that could jump easily from human to human, potentially sparking a pandemic.
The health ministry said it was unable to do tests to confirm whether the mother had died of avian influenza, as no samples were collected when she passed away.
But it added it was unlikely the girl caught bird flu from her mother.
“We cannot be sure that the patient’s mother had bird flu, and investigations show the patient had been exposed to live poultry markets,” the statement said.
“Therefore, we believe the patient’s infection most likely came from a live poultry market or another unknown exposure,” it said.
The WHO says about 250 people have died from bird flu worldwide since 2003.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
RSS