The first cases of H7N9 avian influenza contamination are emerging in Hong Kong. One person has been infected and seventeen are in quarantine.
Seventeen people have been placed in quarantine in Hong Kong (China), the health authorities announced on December 3. They suspect contamination with the H7N9 avian flu virus due to “close” contact with a domestic worker who is currently hospitalized. This Indonesian woman is the first human case of the flu in the city.
Hospitalized last month for a severe cough, the patient is now in critical condition. She was infected with the bird flu virus after staying in southern China, in Shenzhen. As a result, Hong Kong suspended imports of live poultry from Shenzhen and the alert level was raised to “serious” by the health secretariat.
139 human cases
“If those who have been in close contact (with the patient) do not show symptoms, we will ensure that they enter into quarantine in premises provided for this purpose. Tonight, five people who had been in close contact with the patient and who show no signs of infection will go into quarantine, ”Ko Wing-man told reporters. The confinement will last ten days after the last contact with the carrier of the virus. This is the incubation time required for the virus to express itself. If there are no symptoms, patients should then return to their homes.
In a second statement, the government said all 17 people tested negative for the virus. But they will be sent to a vacation village in the coastal town of Sai Kung “for medical surveillance,” Ko added.
Since February 2013, 139 human cases of avian influenza have been reported to the World Health Organization, 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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