On February 18, 2016, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed one new H7N9 influenza infection reported in Shandong Province since fall last year. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) thus raised the travel notice level for Shandong Province to Level 2: Alert for avian influenza on the same day.

Since fall last year, a cumulative total of 54 H7N9 influenza infections, including 24 cases in Zhejiang Province, 10 cases in Guangdong Province, 5 cases in Hunan Province, 7 cases in Jiangsu Province, 3 cases in Fujian Province, 3 cases in Shanghai City, 1 case in Jiangxi Province, and 1 case in Shandong Province, have been confirmed in China. The majority of them are aged over 50 and had a history of live poultry exposure. Since 2013, a cumulative total of 731 H7N9 influenza infections, including 277 deaths announced by WHO on January 26, 2016, have been confirmed in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, and Malaysia.

Currently, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for avian influenza to Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Anhui Province, Hunan Province, Jiangxi Province, Jiangsu Province, Shanghai City, Sichuan Province, Fujian Province, and Shandong 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 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 athttp://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).