Britons travelling to China have been told by the UK Government to avoid wet markets — because of a rise in bird flu.
Today, the UK Health Security Agency issued new advice warning of the dangers inherent in the notorious market.
After being labelled the epicenter of the Covid pandemic, wet markets were the subject of intense international criticism.
Many animals are kept in close quarters, both dead and living, at markets.
UKHSA advised that travellers visiting China and other Asian nations should avoid living bird markets and poultry farms.
If they have flu symptoms, returning Britons should contact their doctor immediately.
Record numbers are being reported from China for the subtype H5N6 avian flu this year. This is compared with five in last year.
Dr Gavin Dabrera, an infectious diseases expert at UKHSA said: ‘Anyone visiting China should avoid exposure to birds or live birds in ‘wet markets’ as a precaution.’
Huanan Seafood Wholesale, located in Wuhan in Hubei Province has been hailed as the main source for Covid
At the market, skinned chicks where live animals were kept under cramped conditions and could be sold on an order
One of the markets’ businesses was listed with the prices. It showed the price for “live tree bears”, which is Chinese for “koala” (circled above).
At least 6 deaths have occurred from the H5N6 cases in China in this year’s outbreak. Many patients are still critically ill.
Scientists estimate the substrain – which first emerged in the East Asian state Laos in 2013 – has a kill rate of 67 per cent.
UKHSA stated that China had claimed to have not reported any cases of human–to-human transmission and that there was no risk for the UK.
Britons who travel to this area should not handle raw, undercooked, or undercooked chicken or egg dishes.
Dr Dabrera added: ‘We continue to encourage people to avoid touching dead or dying birds and maintain good hand hygiene while travelling.
Avian influenza is still a concern in China. If travellers have flu-like symptoms after returning from China within 10 days, they should contact their doctor or NHS111 to report it.
“UKHSA” has provisions in place to address emerging diseases. These include the investigation and detection of possible cases as well as the management and contact of confirmed cases.
A World Health Organization (WHO) expert said there was nothing to worry about yet because there is no sign the strain can spread between people.
However, Dr Beverly Taylor (an influenza expert and vaccine specialist) warned that it was impossible to rule out.
She told MailOnline: ‘ I think the key thing is we are not seeing human to human transmission.
“Right now we expect the risk to be low, but we cannot rule out it.”
Her suggestion was that China’s wet market and other farming practices make it more susceptible to epidemics than other countries.
She said: ‘China does have — it always has — a higher number of cases than we see in other countries and part of that is the way we see people live there.
“There are still live bird markets, and the Chinese Government has attempted to take control of them. There is also the possibility for people who keep very close contact with their domestic birds.
Huanan Seafood Wholesale, located in Wuhan in Hubei Province has been hailed as the main source for Covid.
The majority of early cases involved people who were shopping there or working there.
Yet, despite testing markets, farms and no fewer than 80,000 animal samples spanning dozens of species across China, no evidence has emerged for a similar chain of early ‘zoonotic’ infections — transmitted from animals to humans — in SARS-CoV-2.
The virus was not detected in hundreds of samples from carcasses of animals that have been sold on the market.
Although the Chinese authorities are not revealing the occupations of the first infected persons, it is known that many of these people, even the most well-known cases, were never exposed to the markets.
Recent attention has been drawn to the Wuhan-based high security biomedical lab, which is where some fear that the virus could have accidentally leaked.