Special Issue on Recent Advances in H₇N₉ Research

H₇N₉ is a serotype of the species Influenza virus A (avian influenza virusor bird flu virus). Avian influenza A H7 viruses normally circulate amongst avian populations with some variants known to occasionally infect humans. An H7N9 virus was first reported to have infected humans in 2013 in China.

Most of the reported cases of human infection have resulted in severe respiratory illness. In the month following the report of the first case, more than 100 people had been infected, an unusually high rate for a new infection; a fifth of those patients had died, a fifth had recovered, and the rest remained critically ill. Keiji Fukuda, the World Health Organization's (WHO) assistant director-general for health, security and the environment, identified H7N9 as an unusually dangerous virus for humans.

As of April 30, 2013, much remains unknown regarding background and transmission. It has been established that many of the human cases of H₇N₉ appear to have a link to live bird markets. No human cases or animal infections have been detected on poultry farms or in the wild bird population. So far, there do not seem to be any cases of human-to-human transmission. Researchers have commented on the unusual prevalence of older males among H7N9-infected patients. While several environmental, behavioral, and biological explanations for this pattern have been proposed, as yet, the reason is unknown. Currently no vaccine exists, but the use of influenza antiviral drugs known as neuraminidase inhibitorsin cases of early infection may be effective.

In this special issue, we intend to invite front-line researchers and authors to submit original research and review articles on exploring H₇N₉ virus.

Authors should read over the journal’s Authors' Guidelines carefully before submission, Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal's Paper Submission System.

Please kindly notice that the “Special Issue’’ under your manuscript title is supposed to be specified and the research field “Special Issue- Advance in H₇N₉ Research” should be chosen during your submission.

According to the following timetable:

Guest Editor

Prof. Luca Masotti

Univerisity of Siena, Italy

For further questions or inquiries

Please contact Editorial Assistant at

wjcd@scirp.org