Expert visits: Mid-April is the key period of H7N9.

In order to understand the H7N9 influenza epidemic in Chinese mainland, China Central Epidemic Command Center recently sent two well-known experts to visit Shanghai and returned to Taiwan yesterday. They judged that the current poultry epidemic in Chinese mainland still belongs to the spread of poultry, and it will not cause an epidemic in the short term. As the live poultry market in Shanghai and other places has been closed on the 6th, whether there are cases in mid-April will be a critical period to control the epidemic.

He (right), a researcher from Academia Sinica, and Zhan, an epidemic prevention physician from the Disease Control Bureau, visited Shanghai as epidemiologists from 6th to 9th this month. (Photo/Zhang) These two famous experts are He, a researcher at Academia Sinica, and Zhan, an epidemic prevention physician at the CDC. They actually visited Shanghai from 6 to 9 this month. Dr. Zhan said that at present, the epidemic is still in the stage of bird transmission. About half of the confirmed cases of H7N9 influenza in Shanghai have a history of contact with livestock, and the other half are elderly people over 50 with chronic diseases, but the source of infection remains to be determined.

The closure of Shanghai live poultry market in mid-April is the key period of control.

Shanghai live poultry market was completely closed on the 6th. Researcher He pointed out that it takes about 7 days from contact with influenza, so whether there are any cases after 16 will be the key point to control the epidemic in Shanghai.

She explained that at present, H7N9 is still a virus on birds, and Shanghai was chosen for the interview because Shanghai is a highly urbanized area, and most people come into contact with birds from the live poultry market. Moreover, in the past experience of SARS and H5N 1 avian influenza, the live poultry market is also a place where urbanites may have frequent contact with poultry. It is indeed a feasible method to close the live poultry market. After blocking this possible source of infection, it is theoretically possible to avoid increasing the number of cases.

Go to land to prevent H7N9 infection and avoid raw food or contact with birds.

However, two experts also stressed that the exact source of infection is unknown at present, and Shanghai is as big as Taiwan Province Province, and there are also relatively rural areas, so everyone raises chickens and ducks by themselves. If H7N9 avian influenza virus is widely spread in other birds and has been localized, it may not cause poultry diseases, but it may still infect contacts. In this regard, the mainland also promised to investigate the H7N9 virus in poultry and the environment at the end of April.

At present, China suggested that people going to the mainland should avoid contact with birds, avoid eating raw poultry meat and wash their hands frequently. The two experts also affirmed this practice, emphasizing that even if there is no doubt about large-scale human-to-human transmission at present, the virus may still mutate in the future, and it still needs vigilance and monitoring; In addition, although there is no immediate demand for vaccines, it takes time to make them, so preparations should also start simultaneously.