Mainland, Taiwan work jointly on H7N9

The Chinese mainland has agreed to provide an H7N9 bird flu virus strain to Taiwan in an effort to jointly prevent and control the disease.

Fan Liqing, spokeswoman with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on April 10 that the mainland has reported the latest developments of the H7N9 avian influenza and introduced treatment methods to Taiwan on March 31.

Two health experts from Taiwan on April 6 visited the hospitals in Shanghai where H7N9 patients receive medical treatment, she said during a regular news conference.

The hospitals shared the patients' medical information — including testing data, tracing of their close contacts, and treatment practices — with the experts from Taiwan, she said.

The mainland will continue to offer support and assistance to Taiwan for disease prevention and control, she said.

Thirty-one H7N9 cases, nine fatal, have been reported in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces and Shanghai as of Wednesday afternoon.

A 4-year-old H7N9 patient in Shanghai was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday after recovering from the flu, China News Service reported.