It's been nearly three weeks since Chinese researchers reportedly discovered a new strain of bird flu in humans. Scientists, however, still aren't sure how people are becoming infected with the disease, when most of the subjects had seemingly not had any recent contact with live fowl. Additionally, the bird flu virus supposedly can't be passed from person to person.
The H7N9 bird flu virus has already killed 17 people and infected 66 others in China.
"To me, the biggest question is the link between the virus in birds and how it gets to humans. This is not clear," said Dr. Bai Chunxue, a Shanghai doctor.
Bai treated one of the first cases of the virus, a family including an 87-year old man and his two sons. Bai stated that the family did not believe it had any recent contact with birds or poultry.
Current theories range from the way poultry is slaughtered in markets, to infected droppings from passing birds. Feng Zijian, a Chinese official helping with the government's bird flu response, believes the former option is the most likely. He stated that a potential infection source may be a machine Chinese poultry sellers often use to remove feathers from chickens. The machine involves a tub of water spinning at high speeds, possibly leading to a spray of virus infected liquid.
"If there is a virus, it can be easily inhaled this way," Feng said. "This is what we suspect to be a major environmental exposure that causes human infections."
However, nothing has been confirmed yet. Because of this, a group of Chinese and international experts has been assembled by the World Health Organization to investigate the outbreak. They will embark on a week-long study beginning this Friday, visiting laboratories and areas of Beijing and Shanghai where the disease has spread.
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