Authorities in China's Henan Province locked up about 3,000 pigeons in cages at Zijingshan Park in Zhenghou due to the H7N9 flu that has already claimed at least 14 lives.

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The pigeons at Zijinshan Park and Lvcheng Square, which used to be bred outside, have been confined with cages as China takes extra measures to contain the bird flu.

The government has initiated measures like daily sterilization of pigeon houses and drug feeding to ensure that the thousands of birds on China's parks are free from the dreaded virus.

New Cases

As of  6 p.m. (China time), the National Health and Family Planning Commission has confirmed three new cases of the avian flu, with one more death reported in Jiangsu Province.

And there is no end in sight yet to the increasing number of infections as The World Health Organization (WHO) said there will be further cases of human infection until the source of the infection has been identified.

Three new infections were confirmed in patients from Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu provinces, the commission said in its daily update on H7N9 cases. China now has a total of 63 cases of H7N9, including 14 cases that have ended in death.

Shanghai has the most number of cases with 24, including nine ending in death. Seventeen cases, including two deaths, have been reported in Jiangsu Province, and 16 cases, including two deaths, in Zhejiang Province. Anhui Province has reported three cases, with one death. Beijing has reported one case and two have been reported in Henan Province.

Among the latest patients is a 4-year-old boy who displayed no symptoms. Health authorities considered the boy as a carrier of the strain because he displayed no symptoms despite being positive for the virus. He has been placed under observation to see if he develops symptoms, health authorities said. 

The discovery of the boy's infection was made when health personnel check people who had contact with a 7-year-old girl, who was confirmed as Beijing's first case of the virus. Authorities said a neighbor of the boy bought chicken from the girl's family.

Searching for the Source

The World Health Organization (WHO) said investigation into the possible sources of infection and reservoirs of the virus are ongoing.

"Until the source of infection has been identified, it is expected that there will be further cases of human infection with the virus in China," the WHO said in its website.

WHO continues to hold on to its claim that there is not evidence of ongoing human-to-human transmission of the virus as of press time.

The H7N9 strain is normally found in birds and was never known to infect people until last month. A possible source for the infections is poultry markets, which have become the focus of investigation by China's health ministry and WHO.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong has earlier urged efforts to prevent and control the spread of H7N9 bird flu and cure infected patients.

Liu, who visited hospitals to see recovered patients and conveyed greetings to medical staff, called on medical workers to pay high attention to the development of the virus, speed up the study of the lesser-known strain and relentlessly control the spread of the disease.