Seventy-nine people have died in China in one month due to H7N9 avian flu, Chinese health authorities said today.
Since the beginning of the year, 16 provincial regions have reported 192 human H7N9 avian flu cases in January, China's National Health and Family Planning Commission said.
"Seventy-nine people died due to the disease," state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
From February 6 to 12, 69 more such cases were reported across the country, including eight fatalities.
In China, most cases were around the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta areas, Shu Yuelong, director of the Chinese National Influenza Centre said.
Contact with infected poultry and exposure to live poultry markets pose risks of infection, Shu said, adding that evidence rules out sustained human-to-human transmission of avian flu.
Health authorities are implementing a raft of measures to address the situation, including improving surveillance and risk assessment, more training for medical staff, and allocating medical resources more effectively, the report said.
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