In the night of December 19, 2016, the Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP) announced this fall’s first case of H7N9 influenza infection in Hong Kong, which is an imported case from Guangdong Province, China. H7N9 cases usually begin to increase in China in October. As the New Year’s Day and the Chinese New Year holiday approach, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) urges travelers planning to visit affected areas in China to heighten their vigilance for influenza, practice good personal hygiene, avoid contact with poultry and birds and visiting live poultry markets, and consume only thoroughly cooked poultry and eggs in order to lower the risk of infection.

The case is a 75-year-old male with a medical history of chronic conditions. On November 28, he visited Changping Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China. On December 8, he developed discomfort and sough medical attention thereOn the following day, he returned to Hong Kong. On December 17, he was diagnosed with pneumonia after developing fever. On December 19, he was tested positive for H7N9. As of now, he is in critical condition. Currently, none of his family members residing in the same household has developed suspected symptoms.　As H7N9 cases usually begin to increase in China in October, more cases are expected to occur. Since October 1, 2016, a cumulative total of 10 H7N9 influenza infections have been confirmed in China, including 5 cases in Jiangsu Province and 1 case respectively in Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Fujian Province, Macau and Hong Kong. Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 808 H7N9 influenza infections, including 322 deaths announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 21, 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 human infections with novel influenza A viruses 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 the 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).