In April, China took the drastic measure of shutting down 780 live poultry markets in order to stop the spread of H7N9 bird flu, a sometimes-lethal virus that had been quickly spreading. Reports of infection by the virus all but stopped following the shutdown, and researchers are now reporting that it was in fact the shutdown that caused the change. In a paper published tomorrow in The Lancet, researchers led from The University of Hong Kong report that shutting down live poultry markets brought about a "sudden and strong" 97 percent drop in the daily number of H7N9 infections in humans.

Shutting down the poultry markets caused a major econo …

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Scientists have confirmed that the deadly H7N9 bird flu strain is transferrable between ferrets. Six of the animals - which often serve as a good measure for the risk of transmission between humans - were injected with the virus and placed in a cage with three uninfected ferrets. Three more uninfected specimens were nearby, but outside of the cage. All three caged ferrets became infected with H7N9, though only outside ferret was afflicted. That suggests there's less risk of infection by air compared with direct contact, but scientists warn the successful transfer rate is higher than many prior avian viruses. Worse yet, the National Institute …

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After months of mounting concern, Chinese health officials are breathing a sigh of relief: no new human cases of H7N9 have been reported in the country in more than a week. The milestone marks the first time since March, when the H7N9 outbreak first began, that human cases haven't continued to increase.

In the week beginning May 13, one previously infected patient succumbed to the virus, according to a statement issued on Monday by China's National Health and Family Planning Commission. That death brings the H7N9 fatality toll to 36, with 130 confirmed cases in total.

A promising signal

All of those cases appear to be linked back to human c …

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Scientists in China say they have pinpointed a likely source of a new strain of avian influenza (bird flu) that's killed 23 people in the country so far: chicken sold in the markets of Zhejiang, China. In a study fast-tracked into online publication in the international medical journal the Lancet yesterday, 30 scientists from hospitals and universities around China took samples of the H7N9 virus strain from human patients and compared it to samples of viruses grown from chicken in a Zhejiang market and found that "viral isolate from the patient was closely similar to that from an epidemiologically linked market chicken." Yet the human versio …

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A new strain of avian influenza (bird flu) that has killed 22 people so far in China is "one of the most lethal influenza viruses" that scientists have ever encountered, according to Keiji Fukuda, an official with the World Health Organization (WHO). Fukuda also said of the new H7N9 virus strain that "when we look at influenza viruses, this is an unusually dangerous virus for humans," as Reuters reported today.

"an unusually dangerous virus for humans."

The comments come on the same day as the first reported case of H7N9 in a person outside China, where all 108 confirmed cases have occurred since the outbreak first began in late March. Late …

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A recent outbreak of a new strain of avian influenza (bird flu) has killed at least 17 people in China since the first cases in humans were reported in late March. No cases of the H7N9 virus have yet been reported outside of that country, but in the US, precautions are being taken anyway. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance to doctors and other health care workers yesterday, warning them to "consider the possibility of avian influenza A(H7N9) virus infection in persons" manifesting symptoms. Those include high fever and cough, which can quickly progress to severe pneumonia and death. The guidance also …

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Researchers in Japan and the US have analyzed the genes of a new strain of avian (bird) flu that's killed at least 17 people in China in recent weeks, and discovered that some of the new H7N9 viruses have mutated to be more effective and deadlier in humans than they are in birds. The findings "raise concerns regarding their [the virsues'] pandemic potential," according to the researchers, who published their findings in a paper in the journal Eurosurveillance last week.

Viruses "raise concerns regarding…pandemic potential"

Specifically, the researchers examined genes from four infected people in China and found that in all cases, the viruses …

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In a worrying development, the World Health Organization is reporting that a new strain of bird flu has infected people who have reportedly never come in contact with poultry. The H7N9 strain, first discovered in humans last month, has so far been blamed for 16 deaths. Typically bird flu spreads only to those who've handled sick birds or come in close proximity to them. But a WHO spokesperson told Reuters that 40 percent of individuals with the flu don't fit that criteria, an alarming situation that heightens potential for a pandemic outbreak. Worse yet, a four-year-old has tested positive for the flu while exhibiting no ill symptoms, a sit …

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