On March 9, 2015, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed three H7N9 influenza infections in Shandong Province and Hunan Province. The cases are the first cases reported in these two provinces this year. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) decided to raise the travel notice level for Shandong Province and Hunan 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 reported in Shandong Province is a 58-year-old male who resides in Taian City. The cases reported in Hunan Province respectively are a 63-year-old female who resided in Yueyang City and a 52-year-old female who resides in Chenzhou City. The 63-year-old case died, while the other two cases are still hospitalized for treatment. On March 9, officials from the China Health and Family Planning Commission also announced that a cumulative total of 59 H7N9 infections, including 17 deaths, were confirmed in China in February, 2015. 83% of these cases had exposure history to either live poultry or live poultry market. Thus far, no H7N9 virus mutations have been observed.

Since October 1, 2014, a cumulative total of 186 H7N9 influenza infections have been confirmed in China, including 72 in Guangdong Province, 37 in Fujian Province, 28 in Zhejiang Province, 17 in Jiangsu Province, 8 in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 7 in Anhui Province, 4 in Shanghai City, 2 in Jiangxi Province, 2 in Hunan Province, 2 in Shandong Province (1 case imported from Jiangsu Province), 1in Guizhou Province, 1 in Beijing City, 3 in Hong Kong (imported from Guangdong Province), and 2 in Canada (imported). Since March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of 639 H7N9 influenza infections, including 227 deaths, announced by WHO on February 26, 2015 have been confirmed in China (619), Hong Kong (13), 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, Guizhou Province, Anhui Province, Shandong Province, and Hunan 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).