An outbreak of H7N9 bird flu in China killed 79 people in January, the most in a single month in at least three years, the country's national health authority said. More than 250 cases of H7N9 have been reported to the National Health and Family Planning Commission from 16 provinces and regions. January's death toll was the highest for any month since at least November 2013, according to the health commission's website. Local authorities have ordered temporary shutdowns of some poultry markets and ramped up testing. In Guangzhou, China's third-largest city, more than 30 per cent of the live poultry markets were recently found to be contaminated with H7N9.

Source: CBC News February 16, 2017 05:37 UTC