Here we go again. Over the last couple of weeks China has been dealing with a new strand of the Chicken Flu, never before seen in humans.H7N9 is now spreading throughout Shanghai. A reported 9 have died as of yesterday and the death toll is rising. There has also been people detained from cities such as Fujian, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Shaanxi.
To stop the spreading of the disease, authorities in Shanghai have shut down chicken markets and factories. Killing well over 20,000 chickens. ”Li Wenqi, a poultry farmer in the city’s Xuhui district, said his business had fallen from 100 chickens a day to zero since the H7N9 outbreak, but he was still very willing to comply with the government.”Our business is suffering but people are dying,” he said. “We can only be co-operative. This is not the time to bargain with the government.”” According to CNBC “Fears over a bird flu outbreak in China sent markets tumbling to multi-month lows on Monday, casting doubt over whether 2013 could still be the breakout year for Chinese equities.
Opening for trade after a two-day holiday last week, the Shanghai Composite fell close to 2 percent on Monday to its lowest level since December 25 while theShenzhen Composite hit a near 3-month low. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index hit its weakest level since November at 2,612 points. All three indices have managed to pare some losses since hitting those lows.” Money is being lost left and right. Not only at the markets, but also in the traveling industry.
Of those 9 who have died from the virus, 31 are still alive and effected. All in the eastern part of China. The National Health and Family Planning Commission states that there will be a vaccine ready in a couple of months. They aren’t the only ones to say the cure wont be ready for months. “The China Securities Journal reported on Wednesday that a vaccine for H7N9 has been authorized by China Food and Drug Administration and is expected to be introduced to the market in the first half of this year.” But honestly, by then, H7N9 could have spread throughout China and to other parts of the world. It could start an epidemic similar to the one that happened in 1918 and killed between 24-40 million people in China alone. It is said to only be transmittable from animal to human but they are now doing an investigation on a family who may have it. “The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that it was looking into two suspected “family clusters” of people in China who may be infected with the H7N9 virus, potentially the first evidence of human-to-human spread.”
Guess I should stay away for the chicken from now on.
Ilysha Maria
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