As if the ongoing Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and the African swine flu (ASF) epidemic weren't cruel enough, China late Saturday reported another outbreak of the deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu or avian flu in Hunan province. Hunan is located immediately to the south of Hubei, the epicenter of the ongoing 2019-nCoV outbreak.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs confirmed an outbreak of a "highly pathogenic (or deadly) strain" of H5N1 bird flu at a farm in Shaoyang city in the southern province of Hunan. It said the farm has 7,850 chickens, 4,500 of which have died of the bird flu. It reports culling 17,828 poultry following the outbreak.
Highly pathogenic relates to its ability of a virus to kill chickens. It doesn't refer to how infectious a virus might be to humans, other mammals or other species of birds. Health experts noted most bird flu strains are not highly pathogenic and cause few signs of disease in infected wild birds.
For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) said H5N1 is rare in humans. On the other hand, it can be transmitted to humans typically through contact with dead birds or a contaminated environment. But, if it does infect humans, the mortality rate is a dreadful 60%. In contrast, the mortality rate of the raging 2019-nCoV outbreak ranges from only two to three percent.
In July 2013, WHO said a total of 630 confirmed human cases from H5N1 infections has resulted in the deaths of 375 people since 2003.
"The virus does not infect humans easily, and spread from person to person appears to be unusual," according to WHO. "There is no evidence that the disease can be spread to people through properly prepared and thoroughly cooked food."
What China again contends with in Hunan is the bird-adapted strain of the influenza A virus subtype H5N1called "HPAI A(H5N1)." HPAI stands for "highly pathogenic avian influenza" virus of type A of subtype H5N1. This highly pathogenic causative agent of H5N1 flu is more commonly known as avian influenza or bird flu.
The Asian H5N1 virus was first detected in Guangdong province in China in 1996. It killed a few geese but received scant attention in the media until May 1997 when it spread through live-poultry markets in Hong Kong to humans and killed 6 of 18 infected people. Global health authorities see the relentless global spread of H5N1 influenza in birds as a significant and unprecedented pandemic threat.
