H7N9 Bird Flu Cases On The Rise In China

NPR

Published March 1, 2017 at 9:33 AM PST

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This photo taken on Feb. 12, 2017 shows an H7N9 bird flu patient being treated in a hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. China is experiencing its deadliest outbreak of the H7N9 bird-flu strain since it first appeared in humans in 2013, killing 79 people in January alone and spurring several cities to suspend live poultry trade. (Str/AFP/Getty Images)

Scientists are concerned about a surge in new bird flu infections in China. It’s not the bird flu that’s made headlines in recent years, the H5N1 virus, but a different strain, H7N9. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put it at the top of its list of pandemic threats.

Here & Now‘s Eric Westervelt (@Ericnpr) talks with Helen Branswell (@helenbranswell), who covers infectious diseases and public health at STAT, about why public health officials are so concerned about H7N9.