Health experts say there is no need to be alarmed after the latest death from a new H7N9 strain of influenza, and Chinese authorities reassure the world they will not hide any information relating to the outbreak.
A man from the Chinese province of Zhejiang died from the H7N9 strain on Thursday bringing the total human deaths to three.
He was one of two infections in the province, and one of nine people to have contracted the virus in China.
One great fear, according to Dr Nikolai Petrovsky, Research Director at Vaxine, is that the Chinese government may withhold information, like in 2003, where it was heavily criticised for covering up cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Concealing information “means the rest of the world, if it turns out to be a serious new infection, are deprived of several months of warning in which to start preparing for potentially a new pandemic,” said Dr Petrovsky.
A statement issued by China's National Health and Family Planning Commission said it was using nationwide resources to fight the outbreak and reporting would be open and transparent.
While Chinese authorities are still investigating the source of infections, the World Health Organisation has downplayed the possibility it was spread from human to human.
Health experts in Australia are echoing the response.
Dr Holly Seale, Senior Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales said, “There are ongoing cases [of bird flu] in Asia that are not widely publicised.”
“Most cases are usually confined to people who have direct contact with birds and poultry,” she said.
“Definitely no need for hysteria.”
While the World Health Organisation has also played down the threat of human to human transmission, the concern is this strain has proven to be lethal.
Professor Adrian Sleigh, from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University said, “It was previously thought that the H7 strain of bird flu was benign”.
“Many outbreaks amongst birds and poultry keepers usually sees upper respiratory tract infections and mild conjunctivitis,” he said.
Authorities are monitoring the situation carefully.
Dr Petrovsky said the danger is that cases are not localised in one area of China.
“While no one is trying to alarm anyone,” he said, “like any pandemic it has to start with only a few cases.”
“No one really knows the eventual scale at the very beginning, or whether this is the start of the pandemic or just a flash in the pan,” said Dr Petrovsky.
“It's impossible to say what will happen with the virus. That's the nature of influenza. It's inherently unpredictable.”
