The Chinese authorities are once again responding to an outbreak of bird flu. This time the cases are reportedly from eastern China, including in Shanghai and Zhejiang province. The BBC reports that the authorities have ordered the temporary closing of all poultry markets in Shanghai as a precaution. Additionally, 20,000 birds have been culled in an effort to contain the latest outbreak.

In a statement quoted by the BBC report, China has officially notified the World Health Organization (WHO) that 14 cases have been recorded of which six have already died from the virus. On April 10, Chinese State Media, quoted by the BBC, reported a further three deaths bringing the total to nine. WHO says there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission, and a WHO spokesman in Geneva, Gregory Hartl, said, "We have 14 cases in a large geographical area, we have no sign of any epidemiological linkage between the confirmed cases and we have no sign of sustained human-to-human transmission."

On April 5, the LA Times quoted officials from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as saying that at present, there have been no reported cases of the virus in the United States. According to the LA Times, “The CDC issued a health advisory for physicians Friday morning, which urged clinicians to consider the possibility of H7N9 infection in Americans with respiratory illness, and an appropriate travel or exposure history.  The advisory directed doctors to begin treatment early with antiviral medications and to report suspected infections to the CDC.”