The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (July 21) received notification of three additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) from the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), and again urged the public to maintain strict personal, food and environmental hygiene both locally and during travel.

     According to the NHFPC, the patients were a 61-year-old man in Jiangsu who had poultry contact, a 54-year-old woman in Anhui who had no poultry exposure, and a 52-year-old man who worked in a market in Zhejiang. The patient in Zhejiang has died while the remaining two cases are in a serious condition.

     "H7N9 has become enzootic in poultry on the Mainland. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, from January 2015 to May 2016, poultry and environmental samples collected from markets in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Shanghai and Zhejiang tested positive for H7N9. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations revealed that positive samples on the Mainland were mainly taken from live bird markets, vendors and some commercial or breeding farms," a spokesman for the CHP said.

     "In view of additional human cases reported on the Mainland with detections of human cases in previously unaffected areas in warmer months, as well as the detections of positive sample of faecal droppings of live poultry in Hong Kong and positive environmental sample in Macao in June, the public should remain vigilant. Travellers to the Mainland and other avian influenza-affected areas in the upcoming summer vacation should not visit poultry markets, and should avoid contact with poultry and their droppings," the spokesman added.

     From 2013 to date, 770 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been reported by the Mainland health authorities, while since October 2015 to date, 113 have been recorded.