Hong Kong Confirms City’s First Human Case of Bird Flu
December 4, 2013 Leave a comment
Hong Kong Confirms City’s First Human Case of Bird Flu
Hong Kong has reported its first confirmed human infection of H7N9 avian influenza, the strain of the virus that has killed 45 people in China this year. The victim is a 36-year-old Indonesian domestic helper, who had traveled to the neighboring mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen, where she bought and slaughtered a chicken, Hong Kong’s government said yesterday in statement.The woman is in critical condition in Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital and her home contacts will be admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital for isolation and testing, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said in the statement.
Human cases of H7N9 were first reported in China in February and rose in April before agriculture authorities temporarily closed live poultry markets to limit human exposure. The Geneva-based World Health Organization counted 137 laboratory-confirmed cases as of Oct. 25.
H7N9 has previously turned up outside mainland China. In late April, officials in Taiwan reported a case in a 53-year-old man who had just returned to Taiwan via Shanghai after a business trip to the eastern city of Suzhou.
Even though H7N9 hasn’t mutated to become as contagious as seasonal flu, strains that emerge in China are of special interest to researchers. The 1957-58 Asian Flu and 1968-69 Hong Kong Flu pandemics were first identified in the world’s most populous nation, and an earlier bird flu strain known as H5N1 is thought to have come from the southern province of Guangdong in 1996. Years later, a new seasonal flu was found in neighboring Fujian and triggered epidemics worldwide.
China’s Deadly Bird Flu
Hong Kong increased the response level under its influenza pandemic preparedness plan to “serious,” requiring hospitals to step up infection controls and limit visiting hours, the government said yesterday. Officials will visit poultry farms and live chicken stalls in markets to ensure rule compliance.
The city’s government said it has notified mainland health authorities and WHO about the confirmed infection. Test results on people who had close contact with the patient may be available as early as today, said Ko, the health secretary.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Fellman in New York at jfellman@bloomberg.net
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