On April 26, China confirmed this year’s first H7N9 influenza infection in Hubei Province. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) decided to raise the travel notice level for Hubei Province, China 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 case is a 50-year-old male who resides in Huanggang City. Prior to his disease onset, he had been exposed to sick and dead poultry. At the time of writing, he is stable. 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, Anhui Province, Shandong Province, Hunan Province, Sichuan Province, and Hubei 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 202 H7N9 influenza infections have been confirmed in China, including 72 in Guangdong Province, 39 in Fujian Province, 38 in Zhejiang Province, 17 in Jiangsu Province, 8 in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 8 in Anhui Province, 6 in Shanghai City (including 1 imported from Jiangsu Province), 2 in Jiangxi Province, 2 in Hunan Province, 2 in Shandong Province (including 1 imported from Jiangsu Province), 1 in Beijing City, 1 in Guizhou Province, 1 in Hubei Province, 3 in Hong Kong (imported from Guangdong Province), and 2 in Canada (imported). Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 655 H7N9 influenza infections, including 253 deaths, announced by WHO on March 31, 2015 have been confirmed in China (635), 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 with soap 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).