H7N9 infected birds will migrate to Pearl River Delta, says microbiologist

Hong Kong has to be vigilant against the new H7N9 strain of avian flu later this year when migratory birds head south from northern parts of China for the winter, says a Hong Kong microbiologist.

University of Hong Kong microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung said on Friday he believed a large number of wild birds had already contracted the virus in eastern China, where all the cases of human H7N9 had occurred.

Some of them were migratory birds, which were now heading to northern parts of the mainland for summer but would return south to the Pearl River Delta for winter, he said.

“This is when Hong Kong’s wild birds and poultry may get infected,” he said at a press conference on Friday afternoon.

The H7N9 avian flu has killed 10 people in Shanghai and several provinces in eastern China since authorities announced the first infection about two weeks ago. So far, 38 human cases have been confirmed.

Yuen, who earlier visited Shanghai and met health officials to learn more about the flu outbreak, said analysis of the virus’ genes suggested the chance of human-to-human transmission was low.