The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (March 3) received notification from the National Health and Family Planning Commission that 21 additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9), including three deaths, were recorded from February 24 to March 2. The CHP strongly urges the public to maintain strict personal, food and environmental hygiene both locally and during travel.

     The 17 male and four female patients, aged from 10 to 77, had their onset from February 10 to 27. The cases were from Guangdong (six cases), Anhui (four cases), Jiangsu (three cases), two cases each in Guangxi and Jiangxi, and one case each in Hubei, Hunan, Shanghai and Zhejiang. Among them, 18 were known to have exposure to poultry or poultry markets.

     Of note, according to the surveillance of the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, from February 22 to 28, among 855 environmental samples collected from 89 markets in various areas in Guangdong, 83 samples from 27 markets tested positive for H7 virus, i.e. about 30 per cent of the markets in Guangdong and 9.7 per cent of the samples were positive.