Mask Up, the Next Wave of Influenza Outbreaks is Coming

If you thought the coast was clear, you couldn’t be more wrong. We advise you all to remain vigilant as a spike in flu outbreaks, mainly triggered by the change of seasons and holiday travel, are on the way.

China Daily published that the next wave of flu cases are expected to occur in March, and while they won’t be as numerous as we saw in January and February, the strains are still very icky and worth avoiding at all costs.

China was recently hit by one of its worst flu outbreaks in recent years, leaving hospitals understaffed as the virus caused more than 273,000 recorded cases and 56 deaths, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. In January of 2016, flu cases numbered a little over 30,000, just to give a sense of how massive this outbreak was when compared to previous seasons.

While the spike in flu cases predicted for March will likely not be as fierce as our previous encounter, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that this new wave may coincide with the seasonal emergence of H7N9 bird flu, which is most active in March and is substantially more dangerous.

While they don’t expect a surge in bird flu cases like the 273,000 that occurred in January, more than 1,500 human cases of bird flu have been reported on the Chinese mainland since 2013, and have resulted in more than 600 deaths. So stay away from birds for the time being, and maybe wait a couple of weeks before taking up the sport of pigeon racing if that was on your Beijing bucket list. 

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Photo: China Daily