The World Health Organisation said Monday there is no evidence China's new H7N9 strain of bird flu is spreading between humans, as the death toll rose to seven and airline and tourism shares slumped. China said just over a week ago that H7N9 avian influenza had been found in humans for the first time.
Shanghai announced a new fatality on Monday, a man aged 64 who died the previous day, while the number of confirmed cases climbed to 24. Like the more common H5N1 variant which typically spreads from birds to humans, experts fear the prospect of such viruses mutating into a form easily transmissible between humans, with the potential to trigger a pandemic.
"Although we do not know the source of infection, at this time there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission," Michael O'Leary, the WHO's representative in China, told a news conference in Beijing. "The human cases we know of are very serious. A large proportion have died," he added. Fears over the deaths sparked a fall in Shanghai shares, with hotel and tourism shares leading the decline.
China United Travel, a tourism agency based in the eastern city of Nanjing, slumped 3.38 percent and hotel operator Shanghai Jinjiang International Hotels Development fell 5.21 percent, while flag carrier Air China was off 3.38 percent and China Eastern Airlines down 3.23 percent. But medical stocks rose.
Concerns over the outbreak were also blamed for a tumble in Hong Kong stocks on Friday, although shares recovered on Monday. "The major cause of bird flu remains unknown and this will cause panic among people and affect consumption, which may affect market expectations for the trend of the domestic economy," said BOC International analyst Shen Jun.
The outbreak has so far been confined to China's developed eastern region, with five deaths in the commercial hub Shanghai and two in the neighbouring province of Zhejiang. Infections have also occurred in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. A Chinese expert said more H7N9 cases could be found in a wider area. "We are tracking the source and cannot rule out the possibility of finding the virus in other regions," said Feng Zijian, director of the emergency office for China's disease control centre.