On January 7, 2016, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed two new H7N9 influenza infections in Jiangsu Province, which are the first cases confirmed in the province since fall last year. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) thus raised the travel notice level for Jiangsu Province to Level 2: Alert for avian influenza on the same day. As the Chinese New Year holiday is fast approaching, travelers planning to visit affected areas are urged to take precautions, including practice good personal hygiene, as well as avoid direct contact with poultry and visiting live poultry markets to ward off infection.

Since October 1, 2015, a cumulative total of 13 H7N9 influenza infections, including 6 cases in Zhejiang Province, 3 cases in Guangdong Province, 2 in Jiangsu Province, 1 case in Shanghai City, and 1 case in Jiangxi Province, have been confirmed in China. The majority of them are aged over 50 peasants and poultry workers and had a history of live poultry exposure. Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 690 H7N9 influenza infections, including 275 deaths announced by WHO on December 14, 2015, have been confirmed in China (670), Hong Kong (13), Taiwan (4), Canada (2), and Malaysia (1).

On the other hand, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission has confirmed one new H5N6 influenza infection in a 25-year-old male who resides in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province and whose exposure history to live poultry is unknown. Since 2014, a cumulative total of 7 H5N6 influenza infections, including 4 in Guangdong Province, 2 in Yunnan Province and 1 in Sichuang Province, have been confirmed in China. Further, the majority of them have exposure history to live poultry.

Currently, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for avian influenza to Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Anhui Province, Hunan Province, Jiangxi Province, Jiangsu Province, and Shanghai City, 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).