November 2013 - With the threat of avian influenza A(H7N9) spreading during the autumn and winter months, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have joined forces to enhance surveillance and improve preparedness and response capacities in key countries in Asia and beyond. These initiatives were designed to enable at-risk nations to detect incursion of this virus early and reduce the threat posed by H7N9 to human health. Since H7N9 emerged in China in March 2013, there have been 139 human cases and 45 deaths. The latest human cases reported in Guangdong and Zheijang provinces in November 2013 indicate that the virus is still circulating in China...[Read more]