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Hong Kong Says Tests on Student Confirm Swine Flu (Update1)
2009-05-17 11:42:26.950 GMT
(Adds comments in second paragraph.)
By Kyunghee Park
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Initial tests on a Chinese university
student who flew into Hong Kong from New York confirmed he has
swine flu, said a city health official today.
The 23-year-old male from Guangdong arrived yesterday at 7
p.m. on Cathay Pacific Airways flight CX831, Thomas Tsang,
controller at the Centre for Health Protection, told reporters.
This latest discovery brings the total number of confirmed cases
in the city to three.
Hong Kong, its economy battered by a deadly outbreak of
severe acute respiratory syndrome six years ago, has implemented
strict health regulations to combat the flu outbreak. The
government, which faced accusations of overreacting in the first
case, said the measures were necessary to protect public health.
?Initial test results were positive,? Tsang said. ?We
have sent for further testing and we should have the results
tomorrow.?
The man was taken to hospital from the airport, where
screening showed he had a fever, Tsang said. The man sat in row
60 of the aircraft and wore a face mask, Tsang said.
The government is looking for passengers sitting from rows
57 to 63 on the same flight from New York, said Tsang.
Cathay Pacific has complied with the request of the health
authorities to provide the passenger manifest of the 63
passengers who were in the same area as the man, said the
airline in an e-mailed statement today.
Thirty-seven of the 63 passengers in the affected cabin
area landed in Hong Kong while the remaining 26 have since left
for destinations including Manila, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei,
Hangzhou, Dhaka and Kota Kinabalu and Bangkok, the airline said.
Hong Kong is also paying close attention on passengers
flying from Japan after the first case of local transmission of
swine flu was reported there yesterday, Tsang said.
Hong Kong Says Tests on Student Confirm Swine Flu (Update1)
2009-05-17 11:42:26.950 GMT
(Adds comments in second paragraph.)
By Kyunghee Park
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Initial tests on a Chinese university
student who flew into Hong Kong from New York confirmed he has
swine flu, said a city health official today.
The 23-year-old male from Guangdong arrived yesterday at 7
p.m. on Cathay Pacific Airways flight CX831, Thomas Tsang,
controller at the Centre for Health Protection, told reporters.
This latest discovery brings the total number of confirmed cases
in the city to three.
Hong Kong, its economy battered by a deadly outbreak of
severe acute respiratory syndrome six years ago, has implemented
strict health regulations to combat the flu outbreak. The
government, which faced accusations of overreacting in the first
case, said the measures were necessary to protect public health.
?Initial test results were positive,? Tsang said. ?We
have sent for further testing and we should have the results
tomorrow.?
The man was taken to hospital from the airport, where
screening showed he had a fever, Tsang said. The man sat in row
60 of the aircraft and wore a face mask, Tsang said.
The government is looking for passengers sitting from rows
57 to 63 on the same flight from New York, said Tsang.
Cathay Pacific has complied with the request of the health
authorities to provide the passenger manifest of the 63
passengers who were in the same area as the man, said the
airline in an e-mailed statement today.
Thirty-seven of the 63 passengers in the affected cabin
area landed in Hong Kong while the remaining 26 have since left
for destinations including Manila, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei,
Hangzhou, Dhaka and Kota Kinabalu and Bangkok, the airline said.
Hong Kong is also paying close attention on passengers
flying from Japan after the first case of local transmission of
swine flu was reported there yesterday, Tsang said.