TEMPO.CO, Beijing – The H7N9 avian flu virus that hits China has killed over a third of the total hospitalized patients. The 'less harmful' virus has been considered to be more contagious and dangerous than previously predicted.
Channel News Asia reported that researchers in Beijing and Hong Kong have discovered that "H7N9 is proven to be fatal in 36 percent of the patients that have been admitted to hospitals in mainland China."
Although the virus has a lower fatality rate compard to the H5N1 avian flu virus in 2003 that has a 60 percent fatality rate, it is still higher than the H1N1 swine flu virus that has a 21 percent fatality rate.
A total of 131 human infection cases have been recorded on the Chinese mainland since the outbreak started on February.
CHANNEL NEWS ASIA | ANINGTIAS JATMIKA