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Suspected flu case reported in Guangdong

By Wang Zhuoqiong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-05-18 18:03

A Chinese man who recently traveled through the US and Canada could become the mainland's fourth confirmed victim of A(H1N1) flu.

The 59-year-old man surnamed Yang, of Nanhai city in Guangdong province, returned to the mainland on Friday after an independent overseas tour in late April. Yang caught Korean Air flight KE020 from Seattle to Seoul last Tuesday. The next day he caught Korean Air flight KE607 to Hong Kong.

Full Coverage:  A(H1N1) Influenza Outbreak Related readings:  Premier Wen visits Beijing's first A(H1N1) flu patient  China's first A/H1N1 flu patient discharged from hospital  Chinese capital confirms first H1N1 flucase  Watchdog details quarantine of 3rd A/H1N1 flu case  HK confirms 3rd case of A/H1N1 infection

Yang developed a sore throat, blocked nose, and began coughing on Thursday.

The next day, Yang caught the T810 train service to Guangzhou at 4:35 pm and sat in carriage No 7.

His temperature tested normal when he boarded the train, but he developed a fever midway through the journey.

Yang was admitted to the No. 8 People's Hospital of Guangzhou that afternoon.

The Guangdong provincial health department said Yang was suspected of having contracted the virus, but that it is waiting on confirmation from test results.

If the diagnosis were confirmed, he would become the fourth known case of the flu on the Chinese mainland.

The other three cases are in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Jinan, Shandong province, and Beijing.

The Guangdong health department said it had been in contact with 65 of the 94 train passengers in close proximity with Yang.

The Hong Kong department of health said it would reinforce inspection and quarantine measures at mainland checkpoints.

Meanwhile, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) yesterday ruled that all inbound travelers declare their itinerary for seven days after arriving in China.

On the card, the number of flu-like symptoms that travelers have to declare has grown from 8 to 11.

In addition, China has isolated the virus strain from its first confirmed case in Sichuan.

Li Dexin, director of the institute for viral disease control and prevention of the China CDC, said it is highly similar to the flu strain in the US and Mexico, and it had shown no signs of mutation.

Dr Hans Troedsson, World Health Organization's Representative in China, said the mainland's response to the virus had been well handled.

"All three cases were imported," he said. "So far, we have had no reports of any human-to-human transmission within the community."

It came as health experts were examining new swine flu cases in Spain, Britain and Japan, where more than 130 people, the vast majority of them teenagers, have been infected. A good number of the new cases were transmitted in-country, infecting people who had not traveled overseas.

WHO says transmission rates in countries outside the Americas is the key factor in whether the agency should raise its pandemic alert scale to the highest level. Right now it is at phase 5 — out of a possible 6 — meaning a global outbreak is "imminent."