The Tribune

By Rupert Missick Jr

AS CHINA wages its self-described “silent war” against the spread of a new strain of bird (avian) flu, officials moved to reassure Bahamians that - despite the influx of tourists and links with China trhough Baha Mar and the container port in Freeport - it is highly unlikely that the country will have to tackle the challenges of dealing with the now deadly flu.

This is the first time that the H7N9 strain of the avian flu – avian influenza A(H7N9) – has manifested in human beings. Symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Infection with the new virus has resulted in severe respiratory illness and, in some cases, death.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent H7N9.

As with the H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009, China is seen as ground zero for the spread of infection. China reported its first cases of H7N9 on March 31. Experts say that the surge in human cases over the past two weeks is troubling, with 63 infections and 14 deaths reported as of Monday, up from 24 cases barely a week ago.

However, as PAHO/WHO Representative to the Bahamas Dr Gerry Eijkemans explained to The Tribune yesterday, despite concerns, there is one very important difference between the H1N1 pandemic of four years ago and the current spate of H7N9 infections.

H1N1 relies on human to human interaction to spread from one host to the next, while the source of H7N9 infections have been limited to human interaction with contaminated poultry and wild birds.

Dr Eijkemans said that the chance of the virus reaching Bahamian shores is extremely low because of the relatively small number of reported cases and the speed at which the virus is spreading, citing that so far no evidence of human-to-human transmission has been found.

However, medical officials are not united as to what the source of this virus is and some think that if the current rate of infections continue, how the virus is transmitted – whether from human to human or animal to human – may not matter in the end.

Yesterday, the science journal “Nature” quoted Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts as saying that if the pace of transmission keeps up or accelerates, H7N9 “could be a significant public health problem” even if it remains an infection that people catch from animals.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of the People’s Republic of China, eight new H7N9 cases of infection have been identified, bringing the total number of H7N9 cases across the country to 71.

Here at home, Chinese officials are downplaying concerns surrounding the spread of the virus saying that there is no cause for panic and China has the virus under control.

Liu Haitao, Second Secretary for Public Relations at the Chinese Embassy in the Bahamas, said that the Chinese government is not restricting travel to China or any of its provinces, nor do the numbers of persons reported infected by the virus warrant restrictions on Chinese nationals leaving the country.

“The number of infected is very, very low. There is currently no need for concern, there is no cause for panic, everything is under control,” he said.

Nevertheless, the virus is spreading through the country. Until this weekend, reports of new infections were limited to Shanghai and neighbouring regions on China’s east coast. Now officials are investigating confirmed cases in Beijing in China’s north and another two in Henan province in central China.

The Chinese government’s position on travel to and from China seems to be supported by the Atlanta based Centre for Disease Control which, as of yesterday, maintained that there was no recommendation against travel to China at this time.

In addition, Dr Eijkemans said that neither PAHO or WHO are recommending any specific measures which should apply to travel to China at this time.

“We are also recommending the regular precautions, hand washing and proper food preparation,” Dr Eijkemans said.

To date the CDC watch level for H7N9 is at “One”, meaning that persons should practice “usual precautions” like following good hand hygiene and food safety practices and to avoid contact with animals.