First case of bird flu H7N9 in Hong Kong

36-year-old woman infected with dangerous bird flu virus

04/12/2013

In Hong Kong, the first case of infection with the bird flu virus H7N9 appears to have occurred. As the Hong Kong government reports, the person concerned is an Indonesian-born woman who works as a domestic help in the Chinese metropolis. According to the information, the health of the 36-year-old is critical.

Contagion apparently due to contact with poultry
According to the government, the first case of an infection with the bird flu virus H7N9 has occurred in the southern Chinese metropolis of Hong Kong. Affected is a 36-year-old Indonesian domestic help, which is now in critical condition in the hospital, according to a report on the website of the US TV station „CNN“ from the 3rd of December. According to her, a few weeks ago the woman had slaughtered and consumed poultry on a visit to the nearby city of Shenzhen, possibly infecting her with the virus.

Another ten people under observation
According to the dpa, 10 people from the immediate surroundings of the woman are also in the hospital for observation - in order not to take any risks - including four people from the household in which the woman worked. As the dpa further reports, the infection for Prime Minister Leung Chun-ying „a serious case of infection“, from now on, controls would be stepped up at the border to China to quickly locate more cases.

Import of three farms in Shenzhen stopped
According to the Secretary of Food and Health, Ko Wing-man, Hong Kong got beyond „stopped the import of live poultry from three farms in Shenzhen and will also check chicken farms and poultry wholesale markets in Hong Kong“, CNN continues.

So far, 45 people in China have died of H7N9 infection
By the beginning of November, a total of 139 confirmed cases of H7N9 had been registered in China by the World Health Organization (WHO), and 45 people had died from the infection. Currently „Six patients have been hospitalized and 88 have been discharged. So far, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission“, so the further information of the WHO. According to the report, a 64-year-old woman from Zhejiang Province, who runs an agricultural business and had regular contact with live poultry, was recently hit in China at the end of October. However, according to the WHO, after the patient was transferred to another hospital on November 3, she was still in critical condition. (No)