On November 12, 2016, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed two additional cases of H7N9 influenza infection respectively in hejiang Province and Jiangsu Province, China. As they are the first cases confirmed this fall in Zhejiang Province and Jiangsu Province and H7N9 cases often begin to increase in China in October, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) urge travelers planning to visit the affected areas to heighten their vigilance for avian influenza, practice good personal hygiene, avoid contact with poultry and birds and visiting live poultry markets, and consume only thoroughly cooked poultry and eggs in order to ward off infection.

The two cases respectively are a 77-year-old female peasant who resides in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province and an 89-year-old male who resides in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Prior to disease onset, the female case purchsed poultry at a live poultry market. Both cases are in critical condition. In the past years, the number of H7N9 cases reported usually begins to increase in October. Therefore, it is expected that more H7N9 cases will continue to occur recently. Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 800 H7N9 influenza infections, including 320 deaths announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) on October 3, 2016, have been confirmed in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, and Malaysia.

Currently, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for avian influenza to Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Anhui Province, Hunan Province, Shanghai City, Jiangxi Province, Jiangsu Province, Sichuan Province, Fujian Province, Shandong Province, Hubei Province, Hebei Province, Beijing City, Tianjin City, Liaoning Province, Henan Province and Yunnan 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.

Taiwan CDC advises travelers visiting China to practice good personal hygiene such as washing hands with soap and water frequently and putting on a mask when coughing and 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 to ward off avian influenza infection. 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 aforementioned 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 and exposure history to facilitate diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).