H7N9 declared ‘one of the most lethal’ flu viruses ever: spreads beyond China mainland -1st case reported in Taiwan
The team of experts, who began their investigation in China last week, said one problem in tracking H7N9 is the absence of visible illness in poultry. Fukuda stressed that the team is still at the beginning of its investigation, and said that “we may just be seeing the most serious infections” at this point. Based on the evidence, “this virus is more easily transmissible from poultry to humans than H5N1”, he said. Besides the initial cases of H7N9 in and around Shanghai, others have been detected in Beijing and five provinces. On Wednesday, Taiwan’s Health Department said a businessman had contracted H7N9 while travelling in China and was in a serious condition in hospital.