The World Health Organization has issued a statement on Wednesday in which it relayed the fact that according to their findings, not everyone who has tested positive to the virus has contracted it from an infected poultry.
This is an important development both in trying to identify the source of the virus and in monitoring whether there are cases in which transmission has occurred outside of the human-fowl context.
In fact the percentage of the people infected who had no prior contact with suspected animal carrier was very high. Almost 40% of people interviewed said they had had no contact with fowl. Some sources say it could be as high as 80%.
The exact source of the new strain of H7N9 influenza is still unknown although in general, bird migrations and recombination with indigenous strains in birds on mating grounds along the Yangtze river have been identified as possible carriers.
In addition, the latest cases seem to be in the majority of those who have had no contact with fowl, raising the possibility of possible human to human transmission.
The Chinese authorities are scrambling to both identify the virus' provenance and its exact mode of transmission, but the virus is now in a much larger radius than it was only a few weeks ago, when the majority of the victims were clustered around the Yangtze river delta.
New cases have now been reported as far north as Beijing and as west as Henan province.
Partial Source: WHO 4.7.13
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