Beijing (dpa) - Mass testing of birds is essential for tracking
the spread of H7N9 avian influenza, which has infected at least 21
people in eastern China, the World Health Organization said on
Monday.
The lack of obvious symptoms in birds made it difficult to
determine where the virus might pose a risk to human health, Michael
O'Leary, WHO's China representative, told reporters.
"It requires intensive testing in the animal population," O'Leary
said, adding that only laboratory tests could show if apparently
healthy birds were infected.
"We do not see any symptoms like with H5N1 (bird flu) where we had
mass die-offs of chickens," he said.
"We could track it more easily in the animal population when they
were dying," O'Leary said.
H7N9 bird flu, which was not previously reported in humans, has
infected 21 people and killed six in four neighbouring areas of
eastern China.
"The mortality rate is quite high," O'Leary said, adding that it
was still difficult to predict the spread of human infections.
The WHO and China's health ministry both said they had found no
evidence so far of human-to-human transmission of the new virus.
Experts believed it was still safe for the public to consume
poultry if it was "properly cooked and prepared," O'Leary said.
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