East China province reports 2 H7N9 cases

Two human H7N9 cases have been confirmed in east China's Jiangxi Province, local health authorities said on Sunday.

The two patients are a 43-year-old woman surnamed Huang and a 23-year-old man surnamed Xiao. They are a mother and son, said the provincial health and family planning commission. Both Xiao and Huang are natives of Taihe County in the city of Ji'an. They were working in Jinjiang City, Fujian Province before they found they had infected the disease. Then, they went back to seek treatment in Jiangxi.

They tested positive for H7N9 on Saturday. They are being treated in a hospital in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi, and both are in stable condition now, according to the commission.

H7N9 is a bird flu strain first reported to have infected humans in March 2013 in China. It is most likely to strike in winter and spring.