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Consultations among representatives of China, FAO, OIE and WHO and their expert groups agreed on a standardized terminology for the influenza A H7N9 virus recently detected in China. The discussions took into account several consideration including science, agricultural and public health perspectives, communications and practices already established. For scientific / technical or other reports, all of the participating organizations

will use the term "avian influenza A(H7N9) virus"

The core term can be further modified according to specific circumstances. For example: o "human infection (or disease) caused by the avian influenza A(H7N9) virus"o "chicken infection (or disease) caused by the avian influenza A(H7N9) virus"o "swine infection (or disease) caused by the avian influenza A(H7N9) virus" -

if detected in swine For media communications, especially recognizing that social media such as twitter

will gravitate towards use of shortest possible terms, it is suggested that terms such as "H7N9", "H7N9 virus" be used as surrogates as needed.

H7N9 Virus Nomenclature

Laboratory

4/10/2013Data are Provisional Until Officially Released by the CDC Internal Use Only (FIUO)---For Official Use Only (FOUO) -Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) - NOT FOR FURTHER DISTRIBUTION

This report includes information received by 1200 EDT on the date of the report