Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported being notified by Chinese health officials of two additional cases laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A (H7N9) virus.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

Details of the cases are as follows:

The first case is a 74-year-old male from Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, with onset date of 19 November. He purchased poultry from a market and raised poultry at home. At the time of report, the case was in severe condition.

The second case is a 60-year-old male from Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, with onset date of 20 November. He has a history of slaughtering domestic poultry. At the time of report, the case was in severe condition.

Since Oct. 2015, China has reported 6 cases (5 from Zhejiang Province and 1 from Guangdong Province).

The cumulative number of cases reported on the Mainland since 2013 stands at 683, with an additional 20 imported cases reported outside the Mainland–Hong Kong (13), Taiwan (4), Canada (2) and Malaysia (1).

The WHO notes that based on the trends seen in previous years, the number of human cases may rise over the coming months. Further sporadic cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus are expected in affected and possibly in the neighboring areas.

WHO is assessing the epidemiological situation and conducting further risk assessment based on the latest information. Based on the information received thus far, the overall public health risk from avian influenza A(H7N9) viruses has not changed.