Two Chinese people died of bird flu H7N9

This is the first time a patient has died of this bird flu strain. According to experts, the virus is not easily spread to humans.

The two deaths were all in Shanghai, China. Among them, there was an 87-year-old grandfather, who began to show symptoms on February 19 and died 8 days later. The second case was a 27-year-old man, who had symptoms on February 27 and died on March 4.

Two people died of the H7N9 flu

The third case of this virus is a 35-year-old woman who lives near Anhui province, who is sick on March 9 and is in critical condition.

The Chinese Center for Infectious Disease Control took samples and confirmed that all three cases were infected with the H7N9 influenza virus. People who have been exposed to these three patients within the past 2 months are still being monitored and have not shown any abnormalities.

Officials said it was unclear the source of the patients' transmission. There is no evidence that this virus is transmitted from person to person.

Dr. Timothy O'Leary, spokesman for the World Health Organization in the region, said the agency is closely monitoring the situation in China. However, there is no clear evidence that this virus is transmitted from person to person and the transmission of the virus is not strong, so the risk to public health is low.

The majority of human deaths associated with avian influenza virus are caused by the highly pathogenic strain of H5N1. H7N9 is a less common bird virus, less likely to cause disease and is not easily spread to humans.