Scientists discover 2 new strains of resistant H7N9 flu in Guangdong

Two new flu strains that mutated from H7N9 patients in South China’s Guangdong Province have been discovered which are resistant to existing medications, an expert on respiratory disease revealed at a conference on Saturday.

Zhong Nanshan, head of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College, said at the 13th International Congress on Collateral Diseases in Guangzhou that the new strains, taken from two patients infected with H7N9, were found to be immune to Oseltamivir, a medicine used to treat the disease, the Nandu Daily reported.

Zhong also said that previously, H7N9 virus strains can only make humans sick. However, he found that the two new strains can also infect poultry and its infectious potential is very high.

Zhong warned citizens not to buy live poultry to prevent infection by the new strains, but said that the public should not panic, as the new strains are not widespread and most patients can be treated with Oseltamivir.

“We are not sure whether the two new strains would become dominant and prevalent. Besides, there needs to be more research into whether they are more capable of producing disease,” Zhong added.

He Jianfeng, head of epidemic research at the Guangdong Provincial Disease Control Center, told the Nandu Daily that it is not yet confirmed whether the new strains were caused by immunity to medications or by a mutation.

Since January, at least 270 H7N9 human infections have been reported in China, with at least 87 fatalities. Most cases have been around the Yangtze and Pearl river deltas. The government ordered better management of live poultry markets, including closure, sanitation and quarantine. The live poultry trade should be stopped in places where H7N9 cases have been reported or where the virus has been detected.