The document describes a new mutation in the hemagglutinin protein gene but lacks details, drawing concern from experts.
An official internal notice by China’s National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) issued in March and obtained by The Epoch Times is warning of increased human contagion risk with a new mutant strain of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The internal document, titled “National Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports on the dynamics of H5N1 variants and analysis of response measures taken by primary and secondary schools in Beijing and Shanghai,” stated that “as of 6:36 a.m. on March 13, 2025, the H5N1 variant (tentatively named A/H5N1-2025E) has a new mutation in the hemagglutinin (HA) protein gene.”
“Animal experiments have shown that its ability to bind to mammalian cells has increased, and the risk of human-to-human transmission has increased from low to medium,” the leaked document read.
The China CDC notice also revealed that as of March 12, a total of 127 samples nationwide tested positive for the mutant strain, “of which 68 percent were samples from live poultry market environments, and 25 percent were asymptomatic carriers among poultry workers.”
The notice identified that “sporadic cases were concentrated in the densely populated breeding areas of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.”
Meanwhile, epidemic prevention departments in Beijing and other places have set up avian influenza testing points or launched all-around avian influenza monitoring.
The notice identified “first-level prevention and control targets” as those with direct contact with live poultry, people with weakened immunity, and patients with chronic respiratory diseases.
Mainland China has been experiencing an ongoing wave of respiratory infections since the end of last year. The Chinese regime’s health authorities have officially attributed the infections to multiple viruses spreading in the country at the same time, but these reports rarely mentioned human infections of avian influenza. However, whistleblowers have revealed on social media and to The Epoch Times that human infections and human-to-human transmission have been a main cause of the wave of infections.
It wasn’t until early March that the Chinese regime admitted that “sporadic” cases of human avian influenza infections had been occurring in China at a “relatively low level.” It didn’t specify the virus strains or the areas where they occurred.
By Alex Wu
