Nine reported cases of avian flu in eastern China have galvanised the country's health officials and sparked a frenzy of concern on social media networks.
Since Chinese media reported late last month that avian flu virus H7N9 had killed two men in Shanghai, additional reports of the disease have emerged in eastern Anhui and Jiangsu provinces and the metropolis Hangzhou, triggering fears of an incipient pandemic. Three people have been killed by the virus. The remaining six are in critical condition.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which is monitoring the cases in cooperation with Chinese authorities, said the strain was not transmittable from human to human. China's state newswire Xinhua reported that almost 200 people who came into contact with infected patients had tested negative for the virus.
Among four people to contract the disease in Jiangsu province, only one of them – a 45 year-old poultry butcher – has had long-term exposure to fowl, it has been reported.
So how do people contact it?
