Fatal Avian Influenza (H5N1) Infection in Human, China

摘要

To the Editor: Since the fi rst avian in. uenza virus (H5N1) was isolated from a goose in the southern region of the People's Republic of China a decade ago (1), no poultry outbreak has been reported in Shan-dong Province in eastern China, al-though adjacent provinces have expe-rienced an avian in. uenza epidemic (2). In fall 2008, several rounds of investigation of poultry farms and markets were conducted in Jinan, Shandong Province, and no in. uenza virus (H5N1) was isolated by reverse transcription–PCR (RT-PCR) from 19,340 poultry oropharyngeal, cloa-cal, and cage specimens.