Well, I'm back. Kind of nice to not really see any news for a whole week.

Not many dramatic developments over the H7N9 flu while I was gone, but no encouraging news. We're up to 126 cases since a week ago, and their locations are spreading outward and southward. Taiwan reported its first case, a Taiwanese businessman who frequently traveled to mainland China. More ominously, three healthcare workers tending to H7N9 patients and wearing full protective gear have also fallen ill.

This week includes the May Day holiday in China, so I would not be surprised to see a spike in cases about a week from now as people return from holiday travels to or through affected areas.

The Chinese government has officially announced that genetic testing has shown that poultry from live markets are the source of the infection. But as I reported before, this flu virus does not seem to really sicken chickens, which makes it much more difficult to monitor chicken flocks for disease, and likely increases the incentive for poultry farmers to try and hide sick birds and avoid having their whole flocks culled as a preventative measure.