Should I avoid Shanghai because of N7H9?
I am currently in Beijing and will be catching a train to Shanghai in about 12 hours.
Here in Beijing the news about the N7H9 deaths are everywhere and some people advice me to try to avoid Shanghai if I can, others tell me just not to eat chicken and others tell me that its "just news".
It is possible, but not desirable, for me to avoid Shanghai as I am here just visiting, but I would like to know what is the experience of other travelers dealing with trips to potentially infectious areas like Shanghai right now.
Knowing that it is possible that I will need to avoid places with many people like the subway, bus, museums, etc, is it worth it to go there?
Best Answer
One would always have to take news with the grain of salt they are in the business of selling themselves and keeping you glued to the screen/radio/computer.
According to WHO there is no ongoing evidence of human to human transmission so one would need to take caution as far as handling the birds and as far as general hygiene is concerned but as of today there is no real cause for alarm.
So I wouldn't avoid Shanghai just try to stay away from "street meat" and other areas with questionable practices of slaughtering birds and other animals.
Pictures about "Should I avoid Shanghai because of N7H9?"
Shanghai lockdown: What could China’s zero Covid policy mean for the world economy? - BBC Newsnight
More answers regarding should I avoid Shanghai because of N7H9?
Answer 2
Anything on this is opinion.
Here's mine.
As a relatively frequent China traveller I would happily enough go to Shanghai to 'see the sights' at present. I am seen as somewhat of a risk taker by friends BUT in fact I am just an engineer and so try to base my actions on informed input and not hype. I'd accept that there was a small chance of increased danger and a very very very very small enhanced chance of vast danger. See below. I'd carry alcohol hand sanitiser (as I always do) and use where it seemed good, and take more than average care of crowd and food situations BUT I'd accept crowded locations as required.
Pigeon is the current main target AFAIK - not chicken. That may suggest some suitable areas for more care in city areas.
PLUS: The following unlikely sounding story is true :-). I have a US contact who was 20 years with the CIA and who maintains contacts for business purposes (non nefarious) with large numbers of people in government, diplomatic, international aid circles etc. I spoke to him about 3 hours ago by Skype. He raised N7H9, said that people had unspecified concerns that it may be much more serious than was being advised and that it was potentially far worse than prior "bird flu" scares. I am sure of my source but would tend to have low confidence in news such as that which 'filters through the network'. I would be surprised if it did in fact prove to be vastly worse than prior incidents. But, if you do manage to die of it, please do remember afterwards that you were warned :-).
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: 叶董凝, Peng LIU, zhang kaiyv, Wolfram K