Hong Kong has just registered a second human case of H7N9 avian influenza. It is said to be an 80-year-old man who ate poultry while in mainland China.
While Tuesday, December 3, Hong Kong announced its 1er human case of H7N9 avian influenza and the quarantine of 17 people for observation, five days later, it is already a 2th human case that is reported. After that of a 36-year-old Indonesian woman hospitalized in critical condition, the second patient is said to be an 80-year-old man who ate poultry during a stay in mainland China. According to RTHK radio television, this patient is currently being treated in a hospital in Hong Kong. Asked by AFP, the city’s health department was unable to confirm this new case.
Eventually, the tests on all 17 people came back negative. However, city authorities have announced that they have tightened border health controls, with additional health personnel deployed to perform temperature checks on arriving travelers. Border posts are already equipped with thermal imaging systems. Hong Kong is particularly attentive to the spread of the virus after the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic in 2003, which killed 299 people and infected around 1,800 people. Also according to RTHK radio television, Hong Kong’s health secretary, Mr. Ko, announced that imports of live poultry from Shenzhen had been suspended.
As a reminder, since February 2013, 139 human cases of avian influenza have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), including 45 fatalities. China seems to be the source of many cases: last April, Taiwan reported its first human case. A man was infected after a business trip to eastern China. The best-known strain of avian flu, H5N1, is also wreaking havoc: the WHO identifies 633 contaminations in 15 countries between 2003 and 2013, of which 377 resulted in the death of patients.
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