Bird flu transmission from person to person

Researchers have discovered new evidence for the spread of the H7N9 virus

08/07/2013

After numerous deaths, Chinese researchers have continued to investigate the dangerous disease to decipher its origin and transmission pathways. Recent findings have shown that the pathogen can also be transmitted from person to person.

The researchers of the „Center for Disease Control and Prevention“ in the southern Chinese city of Nanjing, the British Medical Journal claims that the virus can trigger a pandemic.

In March of this year, a new form of the virus was first detected in humans. The number of newly infected increased rapidly. By the end of May, the number of people infected increased to 132, of which as many as 37 had died. As the most common symptom physicians found a pneumonia.

Susanne Glasmacher from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin says: „ You can not say the virus is completely harmless „Nor can you predict a flu epidemic with a new pathogen.“ You have to watch the virus very carefully.“Such a pathogen can change without problems. As transmission, the authorities have identified poultry.

Direct transmission possible
The WHO had considered human-to-human transmission to be very likely in April. In March, a 60-year-old man was infected with the virus and infected his daughter, who took care of him without a mask. Contact with infected poultry could be excluded. In both of the same four strains could be detected in the blood father and daughter died shortly after of multiple organ failure.

In the meantime, hardly any cases are known in China. This was not least because China's authorities cautiously culled thousands of animals and shut down live animals. For the researchers, a direct transfer between father and daughter is the most likely way. There is no clear evidence, however. (Fr)

Picture: Gerd Altmann