A new type of "quadruple reassortant" virus with a mixture of genes from four flu strains found in birds led to the H7N9 bird flu outbreak, researchers said yesterday.
One of those genes of the strain is likely to have come from migratory birds in East Asia, and the H7 influenza virus was later transmitted to ducks in the Yangtze River Delta region during migration, said researchers with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and universities.
The possible source of another gene was migratory birds. Another six gene segments are traceable to chickens in Shanghai and Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, and the H9N2 virus.
Meanwhile, a seriously infected H7N9 victim was discharged from a hospital in Zhejiang Province on Friday, the first seriously infected patient to recover, Xinhua news agency reported.
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