On November 28, 2014, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed one new H7N9 influenza infection in a female patient over the age of 60 in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province and another in a 31-year-old female in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. They are currently both hospitalized for medical treatment. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) has thus raised the travel notice level for these two areas to Level 2: Alert for avian influenza. In light of recent H7N9 cases that occurred in China, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for avian influenza to Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, and Guangdong Province, and a travel notice of Level 1: Watch for avian influenza to the other provinces and cities in China, excluding Hong Kong and Macau. Travelers visiting China are urged to practice good personal hygiene and avoid contact with poultry and birds. In addition, physicians are advised to pay additional attention to patients with pneumonia and inquire about such patients’ travel history.

Since October 1, 2014, a cumulative total of 8 H7N9 influenza infections have been confirmed in China, including 3 cases in Jiangsu Province, 2 cases in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 1 case respectively in Beijing City, Zhejiang Province and Guangdong Province. Since 2013, a cumulative total of 140 H7N9 cases and 110 H7N9 cases have been respectively confirmed in Zhejiang Province and Guangdong Province. They are the two provinces hardest hit by the H7N9 virus in China. Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 461 H7N9 influenza infections, including 177 deaths, announced by WHO on November 18, 2014 have been confirmed worldwide, including 446 cases in China, 10 cases in Hong Kong, 4 cases in Taiwan, and 1 case in Malaysia.

Taiwan CDC urges travelers visiting China to practice good personal hygiene such as washing hands frequently and putting on a mask when coughing, take preventive measures such as avoiding direct contact with poultry and birds or their droppings/dead bodies, and consuming only thoroughly cooked poultry and eggs. If influenza-like illness symptoms develop upon arriving in Taiwan, please voluntarily notify the airline crew and the quarantine officer at the quarantine station in the airport. If the above-mentioned symptoms such as fever and cough develop after returning to Taiwan, please put on a surgical mask and seek immediate medical attention.  Moreover, please inform the physician of the recent travel history to facilitate diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922, or 0800-001922.