Bangkok (dpa) - A new bird flu virus that has killed nine people in
China is "worrisome" because it is asymptomatic in poultry, the
suspected carrier, UN experts said Thursday.
"From the perspective of understanding the transmission, we have a
problem because the poultry are secret carriers of the virus," said
Subhash Morzaria, regional manager for the Food and Agriculture
Organization's emergency centre for transboundry animal diseases.
"This is worrisome because it can be silently spread in its
environment," he said.
Scientists remained unsure whether the H7N9 strain of bird flu,
first detected in humans in China in February, was transmitted to
humans from poultry or some other bird species, such as pigeons or
quail, Morzaria said.
Thirty-three human cases of H7N9 have been reported, and nine of
those people have died, a high mortality rate for what remains a
mysterious disease.
The Food and Agriculture Organization commended China's quick
reporting of the human cases and measures to contain the spread of
the virus, such as banning poultry exports from the four provinces
affected, closing markets and slaughtering poultry.
"Good biosecurity and hygiene represent the first line of defense
for the food chain," said the UN agency's Asia representative,
Hiroyuki Konuma.
There was no evidence that the virus could be transmitted
human-to-human.
Copyright 2013 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH