On December 2, 2016, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region announced one H5N6 influenza infection, which is the first case of H5N6 influenza infection reported in the autonomous region. As a result, there is a potential risk of H5N6 transmission in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In response, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) has thus raised the travel notice level for Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Level 2: Alert for avian influenza. Travelers visiting China are urged 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 30-year-old female peasant who resides in Rong'an County, Liuzhou City and had contact with dead poultry prior to her disease onset. On November 8, she developed symptoms. On November 18, she was hospitalized. As of now, she is in critical condition. The local health authority has determined the case to be a sporadic case and considered the risk of further transmission to be low. Since 2014, a cumulative total of 16 H5N6 influenza infections have been confirmed in China, including 6 in Guangdong Province, 3 in Hunan Province, 2 in Yunnan Province, and 1 case in Hubei Province, Jiangxi Province, Anhui Province, Sichuan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, respectively. About 80% of them had a history of live poultry exposure.

Currently, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for avian influenza to Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Anhui Province, Hunan Province, Shanghai City, Jiangxi Province, Jiangsu Province, Sichuan Province, Fujian Province, Shandong Province, Hubei Province, Hebei Province, Beijing City, Tianjin City, Liaoning Province, Henan Province, Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 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).