Deadly Bird Flu In China Evolves, Spreads To New Regions (NPR, Michaeleen Doucleff)

Article: http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/09/07/549069924/deadly-bird-flu-in-china-evolves-spreads-to-new-regions

Key Points:

- China has had its largest outbreak of H7N9 in this past year (759 cases with 281 deaths) since it was first detected in March 2013 reporting nearly the same number of cases as all previous years combined.

- The virus has shown signs of evolving in ways that cause concern; it is becoming more deadly in poultry and less susceptible to antiviral therapy.

-H7N9 is "the influenza virus with the highest potential pandemic risk", but the saving grace is that it does not transmit easily between people. 90% of those that are afflicted get the virus when handling poultry.

-When H7N9 afflicts a human, it causes a severe form of pneumonia leading to septic shock and multiorgan failure.