SHANGHAI BRIEFING
April 2006

News this month

For the birds

Shanghai’s first human case of avian flu was confirmed by China’s Ministry of Health in late March. A 29-year-old woman, identified only by her surname Li, died on March 21st, eight days after being hospitalised for pneumonia. She was the 16th person in China known to have become infected with the deadly H5N1 virus, and the 11th to die. It is not yet clear whether Ms Li, one of Shanghai’s several million migrant workers, contracted the virus within the city perimeter. Those who had been in recent contact with Ms Li are being closely watched, but so far none have shown symptoms of the virus.

Bird flu has not been detected in Shanghai since February 2004, when officials found infected poultry on a city farm. The city’s health department has now intensified precautions to ensure the disease does not spread. Officials are handing out booklets on preventative measures, instructing hospitals to isolate suspicious cases and creating stations at 160 clinics to monitor patients for symptoms. The municipal government has also increased vigilance at checkpoints on roads leading into the city, to check birds being brought to Shanghai’s markets. Shanghai’s largest poultry wholesale market, Sanguantang, has been banned from selling live poultry. Business at the market has dropped 60% since the human case of bird flu was first reported.

For background see: The aves, and ave nots, February 23rd 2006