Tagged: Flu

A precious package arrived at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last Thursday afternoon.

Inside, packed in dry ice to keep it frozen, was a vial containing millions of viruses derived from a 35-year-old Chinese housewife who died last Tuesday of respiratory and kidney failure.

The toll from a new flu strain is mounting in China.

Forty-three people have been sickened and 11 have died from the virus, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The pace of infections has quickened over the past few days, with three to five cases reported daily.

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In China, authorities are stepping up efforts to contain the spread of a new strain of bird flu, which has killed six people across that country. It is the first time this particular virus, called H7N9, has been detected in humans. For more, Dr. Thomas Frieden joins us. He is the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He joins us on the line from his office in Atlanta, Georgia. Welcome to the program.

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Good morning.