Beijing to test for H7N9 in flu monitoring system

Testing for suspected cases of H7N9 will be included in Beijing's flu monitoring network, the city's Health Bureau said on May 27.

It means hospitals are supposed to test all highly suspicious flu cases for H7N9 virus from now on and report confirmed cases to health authorities regularly.

From April 1 to May 20, the city got reports of 39 cases of pneumonia with unidentified causes, of which one was diagnosed with H7N9 infection.

During that period, Beijing also tested samples of more than 16,000 flu-like cases and 1,422 people exposed to poultry. None of the tests found a case of H7N9.

"Now the risk of being infected with H7N9 is lower, but we will test for the virus in suspicious cases, such as when people with flu-like symptoms have been exposed to poultry or birds recently, in case such infection occurs," said Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the city's center for disease control and prevention.

Pang said that hospitals that are able to do the test will test for the virus themselves, while those who are not able to do it should send a sample to the local center of disease control and prevention after detecting suspicious cases.