Four H7N9 cases reported in SE Yunnan

Southwest China's Yunnan Province reported four cases of human infection of the H7N9 bird flu virus, local health authorities said Wednesday.

The cases were discovered in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Of the four patients, one has fully recovered and three others are still in hospital for treatment, said a statement of the Yunnan provincial health and family planning commission.

Live poultry trading has been suspended since Sunday across the prefecture.

H7N9 is a bird flu strain first reported to have infected humans in China in March 2013. Infections are most likely to occur in winter and spring.

Yunnan disease control and prevention experts have said that the H7N9 virus is not transmitted from person to person.

Experts recommend that people avoid contact with live or dead birds, and only buy poultry with quarantine certificates.

Editor: Eric Wang