On February 24, 2015, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed two H7N9 influenza infections in Anhui Province. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) decided to raise the travel notice level for Anhui Province to Level 2: Alert for avian influenza and urges travelers visiting China to heighten their vigilance for avian influenza and practice good personal hygiene and avoid contact with poultry and birds and consume only thoroughly cooked poultry and eggs in order to ward off infection. If respiratory symptoms develop after returning to Taiwan, please put on a mask, seek immediate medical attention and inform the physician of the relevant travel and exposure history to facilitate diagnosis and treatment.

The two cases respectively are a 48-year-old male who resides in Maanshan City, Anhui Province and a 75-year-old male who resides in Wuhu City, Anhui Province. Prior to their disease onset, they were both exposed to live poultry. H7N9 infection was confirmed in both cases on February 23. At the time of writing, they are both hospitalized in critical condition. Currently, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for avian influenza to Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Fujian Province, Shanghai City, Jiangxi Province, Yunnan Province, Guizhou Province, and Anhui 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.

Since October 1, 2014, a cumulative total of 154 H7N9 influenza infections have been confirmed in China, including 62 in Guangdong Province, 36 in Fujian Province, 18 in Zhejiang Province, 14 in Jiangsu Province, 8 in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 4 in Shanghai City, 2 in Jiangxi Province, 2 in Anhui Province, 1 in Beijing City, 1in Guizhou Province, 1 in Shandong Province (imported from Jiangsu Province), 3 in Hong Kong (imported from Guangdong Province), and 2 in Canada (imported). Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 607 H7N9 influenza infections, including 204 deaths, announced by WHO on February 6, 2015 have been confirmed in China (587), Hong Kong (13), Taiwan (4), Canada (2), and Malaysia (1).

Taiwan CDC once again urges travelers visiting China to practice good personal hygiene such as washing hands 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. 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 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).