China Bird-Flu Deaths Rise to Nine

April 9, 2013, 12:19 p.m. ET

China Bird-Flu Deaths Rise to Nine

By CARLOS TEJADA and LAURIE BURKITT

BEIJING—China reported two more fatalities from a new strain of avian flu on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to nine, and raised the total number of infections by four to 28 as the government renewed efforts to combat the spread of the disease.

Government officials said an 83-year-old man in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu died of the H7N9 bird flu on Tuesday. He went to a local hospital on March 20 with flulike symptoms and was diagnosed with the disease on April 2, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Late Tuesday, authorities reported a second death for the day. A report by China Central Television said a 35-year-old woman in Anhui province died of the H7N9 bird flu Tuesday afternoon. She was diagnosed with the disease March 31, according to CCTV.

Also on Tuesday, local authorities reported two new cases in Shanghai and two more in eastern Zhejiang province. The cases remain confined to the eastern region around Shanghai, with 13 cases confirmed in China’s financial capital, eight in Jiangsu province, five in Zhejiang province, and two in Anhui province since the disease was identified on March 31.Authorities stressed on Tuesday that the disease still doesn’t appear to be transmitted between humans and instead results from contact between people and birds. Human-to-human transmission made another strain of bird flu, A/H1N1, more virulent and dangerous when it spread globally in 2009. Many of those infected in the latest outbreak work closely with birds.

In a sign of central authorities’ eagerness to be seen as taking H7N9 seriously, Xinhua on Tuesday reported on a visit to the Chinese Center for Disease Control’s offices in Beijing by Vice Premier Liu Yandong, during which she praised the center’s ability to isolate and develop testing reagents for the virus within five days as an example of the country’s improved response to public-health threats.

Ms. Liu, who visited the center on Monday, emphasized the need for local governments in areas affected by the virus to implement orders from the central government, ensure transparency, and “do everything possible to cure the infected,” Xinhua said.

Efforts included closures in the affected regions of wholesale and retail live-poultry markets, where many Chinese households shop. Qiu Baoqin, deputy general secretary of China’s National Poultry Industry Association, said the outbreak of bird flu has had a “significant” impact on poultry companies, which she said have suffered substantial losses. “The impact is extremely big, and loss is very huge, and some companies could hardly ward off the blows,” Ms. Qiu said.

In some eastern provinces, local governments have banned transportation of live poultry, and some poultry farms have had to discard chicks as they can’t find vehicles to transport them, she said.

Retail supermarkets appear to have seen little impact so far. A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT +1.07% said the retailer hasn’t been affected by the virus but has increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfection at stores and strengthened ventilation. A spokeswoman for French grocery chain Carrefour SA CA.FR +1.12%said its meat supply iin China is safe.

Tyson Foods Inc. TSN -0.38% is monitoring media and ensuring security of its company-controlled farms in China, a spokesman said. The chicken company is also in close communication with customers and is assuring them that the farms are secure and that company fowl have not come into contact with wild birds, the spokesman said.