On June 10, 2015, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed one new H7N9 influenza infection in Shanghai City. The case is a 61-year-old male and is currently receiving active treatment. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) decided to raise the travel notice level for Shanghai City 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 influenza-like symptoms develop after returning to Taiwan, please put on a mask, seek medical attention immediately, and inform the physician of the exposure and travel history.

Since October 1, 2014, a cumulative total of 208 H7N9 influenza infections have been confirmed in China. Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 661 H7N9 influenza infections, including 261 deaths, announced by WHO on May 1, 2015 have been confirmed in China (641), Hong Kong (13), Taiwan (4), Canada (2), and Malaysia (1). Currently, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for avian influenza to Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Fujian 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 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 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 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).