China is reacting to the threat of the H7N9 disease after a fifth person died from the bird flu. Fourteen cases of the flu have been confirmed so far, China Daily reports.

So far, nobody in Guangdong Province has been diagnosed with the illness. Of those diagnosed, six were in Shanghai, four were in Jiangsu, three were in Zhejiang and one was in Anhui. Four of the deaths were in Shanghai and one was in Zhejiang.

Special reagents for the detection of the H7N9 disease arrived in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou in recent days. A reagent is a compound or mixture added to a system to test if a chemical reaction occurs. Because it is a newly discovered disease, there is no immunization for H7N9 yet.

The reagents, courtesy of Baidu images

Shenzhen’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said in a press conference that residents — particularly children, the elderly and people suffering from chronic diseases — avoid crowded places and maintain strict personal sanitation to avoid getting sick, Shenzhen Daily reports.

Health officials are paying particularly close attention to influenza and pneumonia patients. The paper continues:

Health officials said the current number of influenza and pneumonia patients in Shenzhen is similar to the same period last year.

Shenzhen checkpoints have tightened inspection of flu patients and haven’t detected any patients with H7 flu strains.

Guangzhou has also received copies of the reagent from the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, ifeng reports.

Authorities in the city warned against going to meat markets, particularly with children, and to avoid going near poultry and pig carcasses. One of those who died from the illness was a 48 year-old poultry transporter surnamed Chu.

They also urged patients suffering from symptoms of pneumonia to consult their doctor immediately.

Meanwhile, concern has been raised about an area near the industrial zone of Nanhai in Foshan where dozens of tons of animal hides and fur have been dumped illegally, Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

Fur and hides dumped illegaly in Foshan cause concern, picture courtesy of Southern Metropolis Daily

The recent rainy and windy weather has caused a stench that local residents suspect may be dangerous.

Dongguan is also monitoring the situation, Dongguan Times reports. The deputy director of the city’s CDC, Zhang Qiaoli, that 80 of the reagents would be transported to Dongguan.

Zhang cautioned that, because it is a newly discovered virus, its spread would be unpredictable.

On Wednesday afternoon, the National Health and Family Planning Commission briefed officials from the World Health Organization’s China office, according to China Daily.

The nation has pledged to maintain frank and open exchanges with the WHO after famously lacking transparency during the SARS outbreak 10 years ago. To learn more about how China mishandled its response to SARS, check out the novel, Such Is the [email protected] by Hu Fayun and the non-fiction book Out of Mao’s Shadow by Philip Pan.

Update 15:15: The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that another person has died from H7N9, bringing the death toll to six. The person who died is a 64-year old farmer from Hangzhou.