APEIR News

Pilgrims traveling to the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia may be at increased risk for contracting and transmitting influenza, according to a letter to the editor published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Experts are concerned about the spread of a new strain of bird flu that has already killed one woman in China.

Experts are concerned about the spread of a new strain of bird flu that has already killed one woman in China.The 73-year-old from Nanchang City caught the H10N8 virus after visiting a live poultry market, although it is not known for sure if this was the source of infection.

A second person has since become infected in China's Jiangxi province.Scientists told The Lancet the potential for it to become a pandemic "should not be underestimated".This particular strain of influenza A virus has not been seen before.In recent months, China has already been coping with an outbreak of a similar influenza virus called H7N9, which has killed around a quarter of those infected.