The World Health Organization has set up an epidemic alert plan for the new strain of avian flu that has killed two people and infected two more.
The new strain, which was never observed in humans before, is termed H7N9. The infection has been detected in Shanghai proper and now with a fourth case in Nanking, 300 km away from Shanghai.
The fourth victim is a poultry butcher. Her diagnosis was leaked by hospital personnel and found its way to the Chinese media.
The WHO has cautioned that at this time, there is no evidence of human to human transmission, and that all the people infected seem to have gotten the illness from contact with poultry.
The latest victim, a 45 year woman. When she became ill, she was tested for the new strain and showed positive. She was then quarantined.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Food and Health, Doc. Ko Wing-man, said that there would be checkpoints at the border to control travelers' temperature if they came from the mainland.
The WHO also has reports of an additional four cases in Jiangsu province, who are in critical condition.
So links have been identified between the patients and the infected animals suspected to be at the root of this epidemic.
The WHO is already gearing up to monitor anti antigenic shifts, mutations in the virus that could signal a higher virality and an ability for human to human transmission.
So far none of the people who have come in contact with the infected patients have contracted the disease, leading authorities to believe that the virus is not highly viral.
Taiwan too is now on alert to monitor any new or suspect cases.
Sources: South China Morning post 4.2.13
WHO emerging epidemics bulletin 4.2.13
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