The Lancet  
Jun 01, 2013  Volume 381  Number 9881  p1877 – 1958  e16 – 17
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Avian influenza A H7N9 in Zhejiang, China
Marion Koopmans, Menno D de Jong
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On March 31, 2013, the China Health and Planning Commission notified WHO of three human infections in Shanghai and Anhui with a novel influenza virus characterised as avian influenza A H7N9 (illness onset between Feb 19 and March 15, 2013).1 Genetic characterisation2 showed that this virus resulted from recombination of genes between three parent viruses noted in Asia in poultry and wild birds. The severity of disease was remarkable, as was the fact that patients were from towns located 400 km apart, and had no epidemiological connection.

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Genesis of avian-origin H7N9 influenza A viruses
Marc Van Ranst, Philippe Lemey
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Since March, 2013, 126 laboratory-confirmed cases of avian influenza A H7N9 have been detected in ten provinces or municipalities in east and southeast China (as of April 30, 2013).1 Most H7N9-infected patients are older (approximate median age 62 years) urban men who reported exposure to chickens or captive-bred pigeons either professionally or through visits to live poultry markets.2,3 Patients rapidly develop progressive pneumonia leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiorgan failure.