On February 10, 2015, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed this year’s first H7N9 influenza infection in Guizhou Province. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) decided to raise the travel notice level for Guizhou 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.

The case is a 44-year-old male who resides in Guanshanhu District, Guizhou Province, China. Prior to his disease onset, he had contact with live poultry. Some of his family members work in the poultry slaughtering industry. On February 5, he developed symptoms. On February 7, he sought medical attention. On the following day, he was hospitalized due to pneumonia of unknown cause. On February 10, infection with H7N9 was confirmed in the case. Currently, the case is still critically ill in the hospital. Thus far, none of his contacts has developed suspected symptoms and there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission.

Since October 1, 2014, a cumulative total of 133 H7N9 influenza infections have been confirmed in China, including 46 in Guangdong Province, 36 in Fujian Province, 18 in Zhejiang Province, 14 in Jiangsu Province, 8 in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 3 in Shanghai City, 1 in Beijing City, 1 in Jiangxi Province, 1in Guizhou Province, 1 in Shandong Province (imported from Jiangsu Province), 2 in Hong Kong (imported from Guangdong Province), and 2 in Canada (imported). Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 586 H7N9 influenza infections, including 204 deaths, announced by WHO on February 6, 2015 have been confirmed in China (567), Hong Kong (12), Taiwan (4), Canada (2), and Malaysia (1). 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, and Guizhou 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 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).