Friday, May 10, 2013

CDC: 1 in 5 Death Rate for New Chinese Bird Flu

About one in five people who have contracted a new strain of bird flu in China (H7N9) have died, according to a report released today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So far, the virus has mostly struck older people, a majority of whom were male, and the evidence shows that transmission of the virus occurs largely from birds to people--although researchers suspect there have been a few cases of human-to-human transmission within families. “As of April 29, 2013, China had reported 126 confirmed H7N9 infections in humans, among whom 24 (19%) died,” said the May 10 edition of the CDC’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report."  H7N9 is also referred to as Avian Influenza and is spread mostly through chickens, ducks, and pigeons, according to the report...more

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