China reported this Sunday (02) an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in the central province of Hunan, close to the epicenter of the new coronavirus, which caused 304 deaths and paralyzed the country, says a note from “Agência Brasil”, based on information from “ RTP – Portuguese public television broadcaster”.
The outbreak occurred on a rural property in Shuangqing district, Shaoyang city and killed 4,500 of the 7,850 chickens on the property. Local authorities culled another 17,828 birds nearby following the outbreak, according to a statement from China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
No cases of human infection with the H5N1 virus have been reported in Hunan. The outbreak comes at a time when Chinese authorities are trying to stop the spread of a new coronavirus, which has caused 304 deaths and more than 14,000 infections in the country, and which was initially detected last December, in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, which borders Hunan.
Avian influenza causes serious respiratory illnesses in birds and is contagious among humans. The virus was first detected in 1996 in geese in China and is lethal to birds.
The possibility of transmission of bird flu between humans is low, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most human H1N5 infections arise after prolonged and close contact with infected birds.
However, bird flu has a mortality rate greater than 50%, far above severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), also known as atypical pneumonia, and which has a mortality rate of 10%, or the new coronavirus, which has a rate of 2%, so far.
Between 2003 and 2019, the WHO reported a total of 861 confirmed cases of H5N1 in humans worldwide, among whom 455 died. In China, there have been 53 human cases of bird flu infection in the last 16 years, and a total of 31 deaths. The new coronavirus caused the first death outside China today, a Chinese man from Wuhan who was in the Philippines.
In addition to mainland China and the Chinese regions of Macau and Hong Kong, there are confirmed cases of infection in 24 other countries, with new notifications in Russia, Sweden and Spain.
International emergency
Last Thursday (30), the WHO declared a state of international public health emergency (PHEIC) due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China.
Several countries, including Portugal, have already repatriated their citizens from Wuhan, a city with 11 million inhabitants and which was placed under quarantine last week, with exits and entries banned by the authorities for an indefinite period.
In recent days, several airlines have suspended flights with China. Russia, North Korea and Vietnam have closed borders with the country, while some countries have stopped issuing visas to Chinese citizens.
Fyesterday: DATA
