New swine flu strain in US sparks concern -
Phila Siu
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
The government has touched base with the World Health Organization and the US health authorities about an uptick in cases of a new strain of human swine flu in the United States.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 16 people have been infected with a new strain of influenza A (H3N2) swine flu virus in the past three weeks. The new strain has not been detected locally.
Of the US patients, 12 were infected in the last full week of July, with 10 of them in Ohio, and one each in Indiana and Hawaii. All had had direct or indirect contact with swine.
But none needed hospitalization and there were no fatalities.
A Department of Health spokesman said the Centre for Health Protection has contacted both the WHO and the US center to understand the latest development and their risk assessment of the situation in the United States.
"So far this virus has not been detected in Hong Kong. We have a sensitive laboratory surveillance system for influenza and we can detect this virus if it occurs here," the spokesman said.
In case of an outbreak, the government will implement the flu prevention and control measures according to a three-tier response level system and has also stockpiled antiviral drugs.
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