H7N9 spreads in China in 'sporadic, unconnected way'

The deadly new strain of bird flu has spread further on the mainland, with two people in Henan province confirmed yesterday as infected with H7N9, the first cases in the region.

Shanghai reported two new deaths, those of a 67-year-old woman who died on Saturday and a 77-year-old man who died yesterday morning, bringing the national death toll to 13.

Three new cases were confirmed in Shanghai yesterday, four in Zhejiang province and two in neighbouring Jiangsu , giving a national total of 60.

A 34-year-old restaurant chef in the city of Kaifeng , Weishi county, was admitted to a county hospital on April 6 after developing flu symptoms, according to health authorities in Henan, one of the most densely populated provinces. He was sent to a Kaifeng city hospital on Tuesday and was now in critical condition.

The other case in the province is a 65-year-old farmer from Zhoukou who had frequent contact with live poultry at his home. He developed symptoms last Monday and was admitted to the local hospital on Wednesday. He was now in stable condition after receiving treatment, Henan health authorities said. No flu symptoms have developed in 19 people who had close contact with the two Henan victims, according to Xinhua.

Three cases have now been reported outside the original clusters in the eastern Yangtze River area, including one in Beijing, but the spread of cases indicated nothing out of the ordinary so far, the China representative of the World Health Organisation, Michael O'Leary, said.