China reports 4 more H7N9 infections bringing total to 7, two confirmed dead.

China reports 4 more H7N9 infections bringing total to 7, two confirmed dead.(Cidrap).By Lisa Schnirring.Chinese health officials today reported that the H7N9 influenza virus has been detected in four more people, all in critical condition, raising the number of patients infected with the new strain to seven.

All of the patients are from Jiangsu province, an area on China's eastern coast that borders the city of Shanghai and Anhui province, the two areas that reported the first three H7N9 cases, which included the deaths of two men from Shanghai.

A statement today from the Jiangsu Province Health Department, identified and translated this morning by the Avian Flu Diary blog, said all four patients—three women and a man—are in critical condition at hospitals in Nanjing, Wujiang, and Wuxi.

One is a 45-year-old woman from Jiangning district who worked as a poultry slaughterer. She became ill with a fever, body aches, and other symptoms on Mar 19 and was hospitalized on Mar 27. The second patient, a 48-year-old woman from the city of Suqian who is a sheet metal worker, got sick with similar symptoms on Mar 19 and was hospitalized on Mar 30.

The man who was infected is an 83-year-old resident of Suzhou Wujiang district who came down with a fever and respiratory symptoms on Mar 20 and was hospitalized on Mar 29. The fourth patient is a 32-year-old woman from the city of Wuxi who is unemployed. She started having a cough, fever, and other symptoms on Mar 21 and was hospitalized on Mar 28.

The Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention detected the H7N9 virus in samples from the patients, and tests at China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) lab confirmed the results for the first two cases. Yesterday Chinese health officials said the source of the infections is probably poultry. The H7N9 virus has previously infected only birds, though other H7 subtypes have been known to infect humans, typically causing conjunctivitis and mild respiratory symptoms.

In another statement today, the CHP said it activated Hong Kong's pandemic alert response level, which triggers certain surveillance and control measures. The alert level is the lowest response category. The next level is serious, and the highest is the emergency level.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today published a frequently-asked-questions resource about H7N9 on its Web page, which emphasized that so far health officials have found no evidence of human-to-human spread, though investigators are exploring all possible sources. "The risk associated with A (H7N9) avian influenza virus to the general population in China and beyond is being investigated and will be shared to the public when information becomes available," the WHO said. Read the full story here.