One person infected, 17 in isolation, and Hong Kong's avian flu nightmare is back
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Health authorities have reported the first H7N9 avian flu case in Hong Kong, declaring a health alert. As a result, the former British crown colony placed 17 people in isolation and suspended imports of live chickens from some farms in mainland China.
The patient who tested positive for bird flu virus is now in critical conditions. The 36-year-old woman had travelled to the mainland city of Shenzhen where she ate a locally butchered chicken.
Four people who were in close contact with her are showing early flu symptoms, whilst 200 more have been placed under observation because they had come into some form of contact with her.
Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-ma confirmed Hong Kong's first H7N9 case. The person infected was hospitalised in critical condition, he noted, at Queen Mary Hospital.
Although nothing indicates the virus is adept at spreading between people, the situation is being closely monitored, because the virus is believed to jump from birds to people.
More than 100 people have been infected by the H7N9 virus since it appeared earlier this year in China.
The strain is a mutation of the terrible H5N1 flu virus, which sparked panic and killed hundreds of people across Asia in 2005-2006.
The Hong Kong case shows that the virus can move from mainland China and Taiwan, where most of the cases have been reported.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there was no evidence that the virus had spread from person to person, but described the the H7N9 influenza as unusually dangerous.
As of 6 November, there have been at least 139 confirmed H7N9 cases with 45 deaths, according to WHO estimates.
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10/07/2023 16:45
16/06/2006
